# Newbie Launch Support Thread



## Guest

Hey, y'all. So I am about 2.5 months into my self-publishing journey and I have learned so much. Yes, I lurked here for over 4 years before publishing but there is just some stuff you can't learn until you DO it. I have had highs and lows and an amazing summer chasing my dream. And it seems like a lot of people have launched in the last couple months so I thought this might be a good place to talk about what's going on. What's working, what doesn't, and how we can get better.

Obviously ANYONE can post here, and I hope vets do chime in to add their opinion on various things! But I love the YA thread and the Serial thread so I thought this might be a good idea too!

So to begin... I published my first book on June 4. It was part 1 of a paranormal serial. At the time, KU was paying per borrow so I thought a serial would be a great idea! Literally 10 days after I published, the new KU rolled out. Ha! I can only laugh, because it IS kind of funny. But I had already committed to my serial so I am seeing it through! And I really love writing Hell's Belles. Its fun and it takes place in the best city in the world (where I so happen to live) and I enjoy it, even if its not making a lot of money. It's helped me learn about what works and what doesn't.

I started with a FB Author page with about 100 likes. No mailing list. My first day I made 11 sales. Woot! I sold a ton of signed paperbacks to friends. About 86, last count. The first 2 weeks I went on to sell 125 books. I felt like I was on fire. My second book (part 2) of my serial came out June 27th. It sold 20 the first day. All in all between books sold on Amazon and paperbacks, I made a little over 1000 dollars in June. Very proud of that. I did a little over 100 dollars in borrows. I played with pricing a lot. I was hooked. Getting in the 4 digit ranks was huge for me! 

July was decent to me. I published That Summer on July 7th. Its my favorite book I've ever written but it hasn't sold much at all. About 50 ebooks to date and 15 paperbacks. In August it has told 18 ebooks and 17 of those were on a BKnights 99 cent promo day. Otherwise, that book just doesn't sell. I don't know if its because its YA, or if the cover is wrong, or what. But it hasn't done much even though besides my first book it has the most reviews and I have gotten numerous emails from people who adore it and I attribute it to building my FB likes to almost 300 and my mailing list (that I started after HB2) to over 275.

End of July I published HB3. I had my biggest debut to date with over 40 sold the first day and over 50 sold the second day. And then it slowly dwindled and now I haven't had a sale on it for 4 days. But its the 3rd in a serial so that's to be expected. I did a promo for it but in my experience promos on books in a series past the first one don't do so well. (But again, this is my very limited experience. I also promo'd it on a Friday, which was probably not the best idea)

July I made about half what I did in June. The friends and family are kind of over it (not in a bad way. They're just not readers) so I knew I would take a hit. But that's okay because I started to build some true readership. I had sales in Australia and the UK. Even a couple in Germany. So that was fun. I also produced the first HB through ACX and its for sale now as well. I plan on having parts 1-4 out in time for the holidays. I am going royalty share.

August has been awful. Probably because I have yet to publish this month. I will publish the sequel to That Summer on August 27th. So I am hoping that gets things moving. I also will publish parts 4 and 5 of my serial on the same day in September and at the end of September I am publishing a book under a pen name. 

I am now averaging 1-3 books a day this last week. I know that's typical for us prawns but with 4 books I was hoping it would be more. But I have also learned my expectations were so not realistic at all. I have a lot of work to put in before I am making an income at this, and that's okay. I read about 3-4 books a week of people who are doing really well and studying their blurbs, covers, and FB ads. 

If I could go back I wouldn't do a serial. This is NOT a knock on serials or those who write them. I just don't know if I have done it well. I did not take a book and chop it up either, mine is a true serial. I have not even written parts 6-10 yet. I think I would maybe have written the entire thing and published it as one huge box set. Or split it into 2 box sets. Either way, I still love the story and I am hoping when its done it will start to really find an audience.

What have y'all learned this summer? What would you change?


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## Guest

I've been at this since last May.  (I'm surprised you've only been at this for 2.5 months.  Sorry, but 2.5 months is too early to make decisions about ANYTHING, in my opinion.)

But anyway . . . what *I* would change is my not releasing books faster.  I got up to four figures last year, and then I lost it.  However, I'm releasing books the way I want to now.  So I'll work my way back to where I was.


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## mel p

Thank you so much for starting this thread! I am still a lurker and have not published anything, but I'm bookmarking this thread so someday in the (hopefully not too far) future I can post my own experiences. In the meantime, I really appreciate those of you willing to share your newbie experiences. 
Good luck to all! You've probably heard it before, but just actually hitting the publish button is a HUGE success (this is coming from someone who fears they will never get to that point).


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## crcowden

You're off to a nice start, better than many.  Don't sweat the drop in sale this month. Keep writing, keep writing. Nice covers, nice reviews. Save the cash when it comes and keep writing.


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## Adair Hart

Thank you for taking the initiative Belle! My book has been done for a while, but it is going through formatting and createspace so I am working on Book 2 while waiting. Just a few weeks out from launch. Looking forward to what others will post!

I almost forgot to mention this. I showed a friend a thread here, and your covers caught her eye!


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## Marvin Rosengill

Great thread idea. I'll be lurking for the next few months as I finish my first novel, so all this information is very helpful.

And you inspired me to commit to my first post, so thanks for that!


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## R.U. Writing

Great idea for a thread! I was thinking a few days ago we should start a Kboarders freshman class of 2015.

Even though things have stalled a bit for you, it sounds to me like you're off to a really good start. Having quality product is obviously a big part of why you achieved some really nice numbers off the bat.

I've been facing some of the same concerns and challenges. What I didn't realize is how difficult it is to be "sticky," that the product, regardless of how many wonderful emails you get from readers, feels like it needs constant nurturing (or some would say life support) for visibility. I had naively hoped that a strong product would automatically result in a handful of sales per day because people would browse Amazon's site, find the book, and click to buy. 

Unfortunately, the browsing part of that equation was dead wrong. I wasn't prepared for the abyss.

For new authors, and authors who have yet to gain traction, Amazon doesn't offer much help. In fact, it works against us. I don't mean this in a bitter way. I'm just stating the fact that the books that sell a lot of copies are the books that get the most visibility. A vicious Catch 22. This makes perfect sense from a business standpoint, but for a new author, it can be really, really difficult to gain traction.

But here's a question (directed to all newbies): if you were to become a millionaire, would you prefer to get the money by winning the lottery, or by working hard for it for 20 years?

Me, I'll take the 20 years. It makes it so much sweeter. 

But I'm probably a masochist


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## James R Wells

I have really appreciated all the great information and advice on this board - there is no question that it has hugely helped the fortunes of my first novel, which just passed 1,000 copies sold (yay!). People on the board say exactly what they think, and that's fantastic.

Mostly I have learned about advance planning for the marketing part of the author thing. I concentrated so hard and for so long on the text, and then it's been catch up on marketing ever since. Next time around (whether that's next promoti0on, next novel, next anything), I'm going to have a real market plan instead of waking up each morning and trying to decide what to do next.

Like any other forum, it's important to take away what's valuable and cheerfully ignore what's not applicable for any given author. For instance, by conscious decision and due to IRL constraints I'm on a slower publishing schedule than what would typically be recommended here but hey, that's my choice (and hats off to everyone who can keep publishing on a higher frequency).


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## SunnyDay913

Thanks for starting this thread! I think it's important for those of us who are just starting out to cheer each other on and offer advice where we can.   

Here's my backstory:

I decided to write and publish an eight-book contemporary romance/women's fiction series revolving around a large family. I published my first book in March to a whole lot of nothing, the second in April to more of the same. I put the first two in KU to try and drum up some reviews and readers, but they were barely getting any attention. I purposely wasn't advertising until the third book was published, because I planned to permafree the first and then go wide upon its release. Published the third in June, then immediately after pulled my books from KU and went wide. 

Once that happened there wasn't much change...until I started sinking money into promotion around the second week of July. Freebooksy, ENT, Fussy Librarian, and FKBT. Since then, I'd say I've been averaging about 25-30 total paid books sold a day on books two and three of the series (Amazon only). Not a ton, but solid. I'm building my mailing list, waiting for the reviews to trickle in, and working on the fourth book, which I plan to release in September. Sales on Kobo have been decent, but I have no idea how to crack iTunes and B&N. I'm patiently waiting for Google Play to start accepting new publishers again, although I have to say that I'm a little hesitant to publish my books there since they had such a rampant problem with piracy.

I'm not aiming to release one book a month, because I think in the end it's easier to get burned out that way. My goal is four or five books per year. I think that's enough to build a solid audience while making sure that I take some time off for myself to clear my head. I'd like to be earning enough to be writing full time by the end of 2016 -- we shall see!


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## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> I've been at this since last May. (I'm surprised you've only been at this for 2.5 months. Sorry, but 2.5 months is too early to make decisions about ANYTHING, in my opinion.)
> 
> But anyway . . . what *I* would change is my not releasing books faster. I got up to four figures last year, and then I lost it. However, I'm releasing books the way I want to now. So I'll work my way back to where I was.


I don't disagree with you. (I actually tend to agree with you a lot!) 2.5 months is definitely not enough time to make changes, so I am not. I am going to finish what I committed to and just keep on keepin' on. And I know you will work your way back. I love your discipline. Not just with your commitment to your writing, but your commitment to taking great care of your mind and body. That only makes you a better writer. I've been cutting down on caffeine and drinking more water and trying to leave the confines of my desk more. It helps! If I am not well rested and nourished, I am pretty much useless.

And thanks everyone, I'm glad there is a positive reception to this! I have a big heart for my fellow n00bs and we're in this together. I hope in a few years we are wise vets, dispatching our own war stories and hopefully discussing KU All Star amounts. And paying it forward like those before us.

@Wilden Turk- yes. Yes yes yes to all that. I way overestimated the ease of getting "sticky." It's the hardest thing of all, and something I think about approximately 50 times a day.

As for your million dollar question- I would want to earn it too. There would be such pride in it. If I got the money either way, earning it through my work would be pretty sweet. (Besides, I've watched the Lotto horror stories on the E! network.)

@SunnyDay913 that is AMAZING. Your covers are beyond beautiful, as are your blurbs. You're doing everything right and I am so impressed with what you've accomplished in such a short amount of time. I also love that you know what works for you. Publishing every month is super high stress. I feel stressed knowing I haven't published in August which I know is still because publishing 4 books in 2 months is great. I just feel like I am hitting a balloon in the air, trying not to let it touch the floor.


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## TaxationIsTheft

Alison, you and I have very similar stats and tales. I released Between the Seams in April. For the first week and a half to two weeks it kind of chugged along, selling one or two, maybe 3, 4, or 5 a day. And then sales suddenly spiked to like 54 on a Friday (while we were driving from Dallas to Austin and back to Dallas, so it was impossible for me to really do any research to try to figure out what was going on). Sales stayed above 20/25 the next few days, when all of a sudden on Tuesday I had something like 250 sales and reached somewhere in the 30s on the Sports Romance bestseller list (that was a FUN) day. The next day sales dropped back down into the 50s or so, and stayed fairly steady between 25 and 50 sales per day for the next three or four weeks when they started to drop.

Note: that was all with no advertising. At the time the only people on my mailing list were my husband and I. I had maybe 30 something "likes" on my author page. All I really did was blog, post on my Facebook (personal and public) and tweet, along with getting active here on Kboards.

I released Baseball and Other Lessons (Book 2 of the Devils Ranch Series) in June. This time I had a mailing list (still very small at around 25 people), which I utilized, along with my Facebook, which had grown to 100 "likes" by this point. I sold 15 on the first day, got up to 20 in the first week, and that's the highest point that book's achieved. Nothing like what happened with Between the Seams. I tried some advertising with this one--Facebook ad, KBoards ad--and saw slight bumps, but nothing major. Reviews are slowly trickling in, and the people who have read it seem to love it, I just can't seem to get people to read it for some reason.

With Between the Seams I didn't really see a true 30-day sales cliff, it was more of a 60-day sales cliff. With Baseball and Other Lessons, the 30-day sales cliff struggle was real.

Two weeks ago I released Big Girls Need Love Too, which is a standalone novel. Its sales have been nowhere near as good as either of my first two books, despite the fact that it stayed in the HNR for humorous women's fiction for almost two weeks. I've also thrown a lot more advertising dollars at this one--Facebook ads and I'm running a Bargain Booksy next Monday (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that helps give it a "push"). Again, the people who have read it so far love it, it's just a matter of getting people to buy it. As for why I released a standalone in the middle of a series, my thought was that I wanted to make sure readers knew I wasn't going to stay with the Devils Ranch Series for forever, and that my stories aren't always going to be in the vein of the Devils Ranch Series OR Big Girls Need Love Too. That may have backfired on me, but I do know that the people who follow me on Facebook and interact with me, along with the people on my mailing list HAVE purchased the book. I may not have a huge fan base, but they very quickly became a loyal fan base, which is pretty awesome.

All of my books are wide, and that's a fairly personal decision for any author to make, IMO. My reasons were that I didn't want to put all of my eggs in the Amazon basket, plus romance tends to do well on other platforms. I'm a fan of portfolio diversification, so going wide made sense to me. That being said, 90% of my sales come from Amazon.

So for those who haven't published yet: be prepared for bumps in the road at first (and possibly for the long haul). I got very spoiled by those first two months of sales, so last month was a bit of a reality check when earnings were about a quarter of what they'd been the previous month. Don't be afraid to advertise, but learn what's working and what isn't (for example, I tried a Goodreads ad and have gotten absolutely no ROI on it), and don't be afraid to pull the plug on what isn't working or do A/B testing to figure out what does work. And sometimes, even when you have good books that people seem to love, the vast majority of readers simply don't find them or buy them.


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## Elidibus

I'm actually about to reach my three month publishing anniversary. Just to give the people still yet to publish an idea of what to expect, things have been slow, but sort of consistent on my end. Of course, I only have one book out at the moment. My first day I did four sales and in the following week, I got another two and two borrows through KU. Things have slowed down after that, with just a borrow here or there or a few hundred pages read under the new KU. I have done zero advertising on this book, so I was actually quite surprised that people were finding it. My goal initially was to put my time into publishing the first three books before I did any major advertising for it, so we'll see how that goes. I also need to get on that Facebook Author page. But I have the other basics. Blog, mailing list and stuff. No paperbacks yet, as we're working on replacing the cover of my first book and want one that will work for both formats.

Some ideas about what a new person should watch out for? Well, if you're like me and listening to the advice of a book every two or three months, be ready. Because it's more work than it seems. I knew it would be tough, but I thought I could work on some additional things in between, which turns out I couldn't really do. This is gonna push my second book closer to the 3.5 or 4 month date. It's not too bad, but I'm gonna have to crunch some things to get the other books out by December, so I can start on my new series.


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## Seshenet

Hi, Belle.

Thanks for starting this thread. I've just started sending my first novel in groups of a few chapters each to my gang of readers (my family, friends and coworkers are voracious readers, fortunately), as I finish editing them. The day job cuts into my productivity, funny how that works. I've also started outlining the 2nd book in the series (first time I've outlined anything before I've started a work -- OK, I've started the first chapter).  

As the question about making $20 million, I'd rather make it with hard work.


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## KDKinney

I've been writing for some time. I was trying the traditional route, had lots of requests from agents with my work but no real direction on R&Rs after the full was read. I have several finished manuscripts on my computer and was on the fence on what to do. I've been studying self-publishing for some time and was going to start last summer and my life took a turn and everything went on hold for almost a year. 

I released the first part of my serial under a pen name-my name here- at the end of April. I did that because I knew myself well enough that I would probably screw up while I was learning and something small was easier to get a handle on compared to something longer. I did screw up. Won't go into that whole story but I've had time to correct the snafu and put out Part Two and my YA Western Novel out since. Sales are pretty dismal, they're happening and I'm getting reads on KU but it's not much. I failed at hitting all the promotion sites when I did free for 3 days on Part 1 of the series. My recent Ad with BKnights on Fiverr didn't go so well and I was given a refund. I know I'm not a poor writer. The covers aren't bad. I've gained 4 &5 star reviews on everything but not many. The Western was selected as a Pitch Perfect Pick and is featured on Underground Book Reviews. So it's not all bad news. I have everything in place except for the Mailing list and that is what I'm working on and watching Mark Dawson's free videos on Facebook ads right now. Need a PO box and an email that's not in Yahoo. The little things I have to learn more about. I get overwhelmed some days but I keep going. I have the first book in my fantasy series halfway ready to go. Book Two is written and I have few other manuscripts still so I have content I can polish and keep putting out there for some time. I'm just trying to keep my head up, or maybe I need to keep the blinders on until I get more work out there and hope the momentum will build as I keep learning about marketing that works as I go along.


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## Matthew Stott

I'll be joining the 2015 newbie list in a couple of months!
I could have published already, but I've been waiting until I have quite a few finished (well, first drafts at least) books in the can. I also wanted to make sure I had books in more than one series ready. It's meant a long wait, but hopefully it'll be worth it. 
At this point I have a website, that I'm going to start updating more regularly now as I gear up towards a release, and a Facebook page, that I haven't done much with. But I suppose I'll try to hit that too once I start putting stuff out. (I've been looking at Mark Dawson's Facebook ad thing with interest)
I also started a mailing list, which I've somehow managed to convince 40 people to sign up with already. Crazy folk.
I don't expect to sell much to start with. Hopefully, by having a lot of stories ready so I can put out as many as eight or more titles in my first year, I'll be able to gain some momentum.


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## Matthew Stott

Wilden Turk said:


> But here's a question (directed to all newbies): if you were to become a millionaire, would you prefer to get the money by winning the lottery, or by working hard for it for 20 years?


Can we make that closer to ten, please..?


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## Guest

BelleAC said:


> I don't disagree with you. (I actually tend to agree with you a lot!) 2.5 months is definitely not enough time to make changes, so I am not. I am going to finish what I committed to and just keep on keepin' on. And I know you will work your way back. I love your discipline. Not just with your commitment to your writing, but your commitment to taking great care of your mind and body. That only makes you a better writer. I've been cutting down on caffeine and drinking more water and trying to leave the confines of my desk more. It helps! If I am not well rested and nourished, I am pretty much useless.


Thanks! 

~~~

Alison, you're on the right track. You've got a few folks at Kboards who hit it right out of the gate, but MOST authors have to work REALLY HARD at this, for at least a year or two, to get anywhere. Once you realize that, you're better off.


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## Jim Johnson

Matthew Stott said:


> I'll be joining the 2015 newbie list in a couple of months!
> I could have published already, but I've been waiting until I have quite a few finished (well, first drafts at least) books in the can. I also wanted to make sure I had books in more than one series ready. It's meant a long wait, but hopefully it'll be worth it.
> At this point I have a website, that I'm going to start updating more regularly now as I gear up towards a release, and a Facebook page, that I haven't done much with. But I suppose I'll try to hit that too once I start putting stuff out. (I've been looking at Mark Dawson's Facebook ad thing with interest)
> I also started a mailing list, which I've somehow managed to convince 40 people to sign up with already. Crazy folk.
> I don't expect to sell much to start with. Hopefully, by having a lot of stories ready so I can put out as many as eight or more titles in my first year, I'll be able to gain some momentum.


This is nearly my story too. Been writing for years, was gonna publish in 2011, life rolls kicked me around, will be publishing this fall. Website, FB page, multiple series, whopping four people on my list.  Best wishes to success for us all!


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## Guest

James R Wells said:


> I have really appreciated all the great information and advice on this board - there is no question that it has hugely helped the fortunes of my first novel, which just passed 1,000 copies sold (yay!).


James! Congrats on the 1000 sales!



AubreyGross said:


> Alison, you and I have very similar stats and tales. I released Between the Seams in April. For the first week and a half to two weeks it kind of chugged along, selling one or two, maybe 3, 4, or 5 a day. And then sales suddenly spiked to like 54 on a Friday (while we were driving from Dallas to Austin and back to Dallas, so it was impossible for me to really do any research to try to figure out what was going on). Sales stayed above 20/25 the next few days, when all of a sudden on Tuesday I had something like 250 sales and reached somewhere in the 30s on the Sports Romance bestseller list (that was a FUN) day. The next day sales dropped back down into the 50s or so, and stayed fairly steady between 25 and 50 sales per day for the next three or four weeks when they started to drop.
> 
> Note: that was all with no advertising. At the time the only people on my mailing list were my husband and I. I had maybe 30 something "likes" on my author page. All I really did was blog, post on my Facebook (personal and public) and tweet, along with getting active here on Kboards.
> 
> I released Baseball and Other Lessons (Book 2 of the Devils Ranch Series) in June. This time I had a mailing list (still very small at around 25 people), which I utilized, along with my Facebook, which had grown to 100 "likes" by this point. I sold 15 on the first day, got up to 20 in the first week, and that's the highest point that book's achieved. Nothing like what happened with Between the Seams. I tried some advertising with this one--Facebook ad, KBoards ad--and saw slight bumps, but nothing major. Reviews are slowly trickling in, and the people who have read it seem to love it, I just can't seem to get people to read it for some reason.
> 
> With Between the Seams I didn't really see a true 30-day sales cliff, it was more of a 60-day sales cliff. With Baseball and Other Lessons, the 30-day sales cliff struggle was real.
> 
> Two weeks ago I released Big Girls Need Love Too, which is a standalone novel. Its sales have been nowhere near as good as either of my first two books, despite the fact that it stayed in the HNR for humorous women's fiction for almost two weeks. I've also thrown a lot more advertising dollars at this one--Facebook ads and I'm running a Bargain Booksy next Monday (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that helps give it a "push"). Again, the people who have read it so far love it, it's just a matter of getting people to buy it. As for why I released a standalone in the middle of a series, my thought was that I wanted to make sure readers knew I wasn't going to stay with the Devils Ranch Series for forever, and that my stories aren't always going to be in the vein of the Devils Ranch Series OR Big Girls Need Love Too. That may have backfired on me, but I do know that the people who follow me on Facebook and interact with me, along with the people on my mailing list HAVE purchased the book. I may not have a huge fan base, but they very quickly became a loyal fan base, which is pretty awesome.
> 
> All of my books are wide, and that's a fairly personal decision for any author to make, IMO. My reasons were that I didn't want to put all of my eggs in the Amazon basket, plus romance tends to do well on other platforms. I'm a fan of portfolio diversification, so going wide made sense to me. That being said, 90% of my sales come from Amazon.
> 
> So for those who haven't published yet: be prepared for bumps in the road at first (and possibly for the long haul). I got very spoiled by those first two months of sales, so last month was a bit of a reality check when earnings were about a quarter of what they'd been the previous month. Don't be afraid to advertise, but learn what's working and what isn't (for example, I tried a Goodreads ad and have gotten absolutely no ROI on it), and don't be afraid to pull the plug on what isn't working or do A/B testing to figure out what does work. And sometimes, even when you have good books that people seem to love, the vast majority of readers simply don't find them or buy them.


Aubrey, I am so happy you posted. You're someone I keep my eye on because I feel like you have really done so well and I love your covers and blurbs. (And I had no idea about Big Girls Need Love too so now I have yet another book to read to the TBR list that will never end)

That is crazy that you had such a massive jump with no advertising! So you were never able to figure out what happened? Or maybe your also boughts kicked in? Either way... WOW. What a time that must have been. I also admire that you went wide. I was too chicken. I went wide for like 2 weeks and went back to KU. (Two weeks is not even close to enough time to try going wide) So I love that you come at this from a road less traveled. And your reasons are so sound and make so much sense.


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## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Thanks!
> 
> ~~~
> 
> Alison, you're on the right track. You've got a few folks at Kboards who hit it right out of the gate, but MOST authors have to work REALLY HARD at this, for at least a year or two, to get anywhere. Once you realize that, you're better off.


So. True.


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## TaxationIsTheft

BelleAC said:


> Aubrey, I am so happy you posted. You're someone I keep my eye on because I feel like you have really done so well and I love your covers and blurbs. (And I had no idea about Big Girls Need Love too so now I have yet another book to read to the TBR list that will never end)
> 
> That is crazy that you had such a massive jump with no advertising! So you were never able to figure out what happened? Or maybe your also boughts kicked in? Either way... WOW. What a time that must have been. I also admire that you went wide. I was too chicken. I went wide for like 2 weeks and went back to KU. (Two weeks is not even close to enough time to try going wide) So I love that you come at this from a road less traveled. And your reasons are so sound and make so much sense.


Aww, thanks (I totally have Hell's Belles in my TBR, too, just haven't had as much time to read here lately). As for what caused the jump, I never did figure out what caused it but I have theories. One is that also boughts kicked in, and I was getting some Bella Andre Also Bought love for a while (I'm sure that can't hurt, right?). I'm wondering if Amazon sent out an email with Between the Seams in it, or if someone who had my book on their also boughts ran a Bookbub that Tuesday and I just got some side sales off that. That Tuesday was also a huge release day in romance--lots of big names had books come out that day--so it could have been that, too. Basically, I think sometimes luck really does come in to play, and any time you try to recreate that you just end up falling flat on your face (I've been trying to keep Big Girls Need Love Too in the HNR in the hopes that Amazon will show it some love via email to help boost sales...so far no luck with any 'zon help).

It's taken a while to get any traction with the other retailers. B&N sold well for me at first, but then they redesigned their website and it was like my sales there tanked. Kobo's pretty much nothing for me. I've slowly been gaining traction on iBooks, though, which is promising.


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## Shei Darksbane

I published my first book on July 21 with one week in July to go. I had set up my author website in March and had it all ready to post books to. I'd blogged a few times, and had it linked in my signature and on my Facebook page. I had 7 people on my mailing list (one sister, a couple friends, one or two people from a dyslexia group I'd offered to complete a survey for research on how to portray it right). I had about 50 Facebook Page likes, 99% from my personal Facebook which had 80 friends.

I had also been a highly active member here, asking lots of questions, doing everything I could to help others (even if I was only parroting back what someone else had told me or posting a link to help show a new author to a thread that had what they were looking for).

I was also a member of a few communities where I'd been active for years. (Nothing deeply relevant, but where I could at least get away with posting a link once and asking people to support me.)

Things I did to launch book 1:

1. Posted on my Facebook a week in advance and told my friends it would be coming out, asked for their help, told them how important it was to get visibility and how they could help.
2. Set up a little contest on my Facebook page where someone could win a copy of the book by Like&Share plus posting a pic of themselves holding something that said "I am Awakened" and using a hashtag #IamAwakened
3. Posted on my Facebook a few days out and begged some more, made sure people knew what the book was about, targetted a few friends I knew would like the kind of thing I was selling, and begged them to support me, making it clear that they could actually make a difference.
4. Posted on my Facebook on launch day about 6 times, making sure to get a message out at every time of day, continuing to beg my friends to do this for me. 
7. Posted to my tiny Facebook Page, posted to my even tinier Twitter (like 11 followers), made a blog post on the website (probably useless because I hadn't set up RSS for it yet), sent out a mailing list with mail chimp (to all of 7 people), posted here, posted in those few groups I mentioned where I could get away with that once.

I should add that I did my own covers, but I have years of experience with Photoshop and art/illustration.

Book 1 sold 18 copies on day 1. Landed on the front page of the top 100 Lgbt Fantasy right away.

Book 2 was half written and I was working on it daily while doing everything else.

I sold 130 books, with 52,000 page reads for a total of $560 from July 21-July 31, so in 10 days. 
I was stoked. 
My mailing list doubled, then tripled. 
My Facebook hit 100 likes and kept going.
Reviews started pouring in, 4-5 stars all, and I was so excited, terrified, and happy.

My ranks started out around 10k and started dwindling daily toward 3k. Awakened started hanging out below 5k consistently as August rolled around, and then started living closer to 3k most of the time.

Then it was time to launch book 2. So I launched Awakened to 125 Facebook page likes, same 80 friends, some now calling themselves fans and begging me for the new book, a blog that had RSS setup, and the mailing list at about 30 people.

Book 2 was launched August 14. On that same day, I set Awakened to 99c, and sent it through several promos. (Promo thread!)
I sold 107 total that day: 42 Hunted, 65 Awakened and started hovering so close to 2k paid rank, I could just taste the top 1000. Awakened was #1 LGBT fantasy and Hunted #2, then #3.
I'll note that Hunted sold over twice the number Awakened did on their respective launch days.

The three days I ran the 99c promo were great.
I sold 240 books, 44k page reads, for nearly $500.
I only spent $13 on promos, but it's hard to say what was due to the promos and what was due to the book2 launch or the 99c book 1.

After promo, I was scared that sales would drop hard.
The sales numbers went back to about what they were pre-book2, pre-promo. Which made me a little sad because I thought having 2 books would mean they'd be closer to double the pre-book2 sales, but the page reads continued climbing. KU is being VERY good to me.
So actually, the amount I was MAKING didn't decline. I kept making about the same as I had been during the second two days of the promo and that's continued to hold steady so far.

Right now, I'm selling about 20-30 a day, though it's REALLY hard to tell because the trend is very weird right now. My sales chart since the promo looks like a lightning bolt lol. I thought I was going to level back out to the pre-book2 daily average of 15-20 sales, but instead, it's going 29, no 51, no 22(well, that's halfway through today, so it'll go up)... Really hard to tell. 
That said, the promo ended 3 days ago, so we'll see as it goes forward.

The page reads, on the other hand are just going up. They climbed into the 15k range from around 7k on the book2 launch and have stayed there, slowly inching higher.

That said, this will be a 4 figure month. If these trends continue to the end of the month, I'll make over $3000. If they drop to my "low estimate" projection, I'll still make well over $2000.

I think Amazon's reporting is off right now. I say that because every day, I have weird patches of no activity followed by really constant activity and while that could be timing a bit... some of it makes sense... I also think it's weird that I inevitably get a LOT of sales every single night just after midnight.

I have a paperback of Awakened which I've sold a couple of to friends, but not much to write home about. I did get to sign a few books though! And sent one to someone in my acknowledgments because reasons.
I am working on the audiobook for Awakened through ACX, royalty share, but that's going slow as I'm still trying to get Hunted to paperback. Had some issues with Awakened's cover on Createspace because it was printing way too dark. I know about these things: I was a professional illustrator before I was a writer... But Createspace's setup for print is not the most ideal to work with. Shrug. I get to see my books in print! Even if the covers are too dark and lacking in details.
I hope I can get Hunted to look more like how the cover looks on screen.



> What have y'all learned this summer? What would you change?


*I've learned to listen to the giants in your genre.* (I say in your genre, because while tons of people will advise you, the advice that will fit best is that coming from your own genre. I am always grateful for people trying to help, but what's true for Romance isn't always true for Urban Fantasy, etc.) Also, watch the ones who are doing well and do what they do.
S.M. Reine, Annie Bellet, and Amanda Lee have been guiding lights for me. (Amanda isn't quite my genre, but a skip over, plus awesome, so I listened to her a lot!)

I've also learned that you have to be the one to decide what to do. 
*Educate yourself big time, then go with your gut. *
I debated between launching Awakened 99c or 2.99.

I was reading threads by people who I know have succeeded big time in my genre, and some were saying "Launch 99c" but others said "Launch 2.99". 
I chose to launch 2.99 after agonizing over it right up until the moment I pressed publish.
Would definitely do it again.
I sold enough to make me happy without feeling like each sale meant nearly nothing to me financially. 
I don't feel my price has hurt my launch at all, even being a total newb.

Plus, I got to do a 99c promo and it meant something.

As for what to change:

I would make sure I had my categories where I wanted them long before a promo date and long before a book2 launch. 
I was in Fantasy>Urban and Fantasy>Paranormal for way too long before realizing they both point to the same Browse category. I changed to Fantasy>Contemporary for one, but nowhere near in time to help with book2 launch.

And thank you, Alison, for starting this thread. I'd considered starting one like this myself. I definitely feel we need to discuss this! As a newb, one of the things I've really wanted to know is how other newbs are being successful and what we're doing right or wrong... I feel we can learn a lot from each other, as you say.


----------



## KDKinney

Shei Darksbane said:


> 7. Posted to my tiny Facebook Page, posted to my even tinier Twitter (like 11 followers), made a blog post on the website (probably useless because I hadn't set up RSS for it yet),
> 
> Then it was time to launch book 2. So I launched Awakened to 125 Facebook page likes, same 80 friends, some now calling themselves fans and begging me for the new book, a blog that had RSS setup, and the mailing list at about 30 people.


Wow! That's a great start.

Okay, I haven't been here long enough but I was wondering what RSS is and how you set it up? What impact has it had on your blog?


----------



## Jim Johnson

KDKinney said:


> Okay, I haven't been here long enough but I was wondering what RSS is and how you set it up? What impact has it had on your blog?


I don't know all the technical details, but when you have an RSS feed off your blog (my wordpress blog includes a free, automatic RSS feed) you can set up other websites to pick up that data, and I think users can sign on to your RSS feed so that they get your updates without having to go to your site.

I currently have my RSS set up so that my Goodreads author page automatically picks up my blog's RSS feed whenever I make a new blog entry. There's a short delay, like as much as a day, but eventually the blog post will show up on my Goodreads page without me having to do anything additional. I think my Facebook page picks up my RSS feed too, but I don't recall. I'll have to check. I might just be cutting and pasting my links over there.


----------



## SunnyDay913

Shei, that is just awesome! There's no other word for it. Your success has been fun to watch from the sidelines


----------



## KDKinney

Jim Johnson said:


> I don't know all the technical details, but when you have an RSS feed off your blog (my wordpress blog includes a free, automatic RSS feed) you can set up other websites to pick up that data, and I think users can sign on to your RSS feed so that they get your updates without having to go to your site.
> 
> I currently have my RSS set up so that my Goodreads author page automatically picks up my blog's RSS feed whenever I make a new blog entry. There's a short delay, like as much as a day, but eventually the blog post will show up on my Goodreads page without me having to do anything additional. I think my Facebook page picks up my RSS feed too, but I don't recall. I'll have to check. I might just be cutting and pasting my links over there.


Thanks for the response. I will have to check and see what is going on with my Wordpress blog. I do have it linked up to my Goodreads author page and my blog posts show up there but that's all I am aware of that I have going on right now.


----------



## Jim Johnson

BelleAC said:


> What have y'all learned this summer? What would you change?


Among the things I've learned this summer, all tangentially or directly related to indie writing:

--It takes a hella long time to sell a home in a crappy real estate market.
--kboards can be a contentious place a lot of times, but sometimes the community rallies for a good cause and that makes me kitty-purr happy.
--Filing business paperwork is time-consuming but exciting work.
--You have to be willing to review and revise your business plan on a regular basis.
--Also got regular reminders here and elsewhere that everyone knows everything, even while at the same time, no one knows anything. So listen to everyone, and use what works for you and toss the rest. There are many paths to success.

And not directly writing-related, I learned:
--"Latch" for a baby is a bigger thing than I had any idea about.
--The new parent community is super nice and super helpful.
--Marvel/Disney has plans for their movies through at least 2028, and there will likely be a new Star Wars movie almost every year from now until Armageddon. My soon-to-arrive son is going to be a geek--it is unavoidable; it is his destiny.


----------



## Julz

What a fun thread! Jumping on board so that I can continue watching this thread. Proud to be a member of the class of '15!!


----------



## SunnyDay913

I should add, also, that success stories should be treated with the same weight as the countless posts from those who are struggling. It's in our nature to think, "Ooh, look what she did! I can definitely do that, too!", and then be faced with crushing disappointment and self-doubt when our numbers don't match up. It's important to find your own path to success, however you decide to define it. Just because you don't hit a home run right out of the gate doesn't mean that you won't do well. How many authors on Amazon only have one book published, with plans for more, and then are never heard from again? I like to take that as a lesson, and a warning.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

KDKinney said:


> Wow! That's a great start.
> 
> Okay, I haven't been here long enough but I was wondering what RSS is and how you set it up? What impact has it had on your blog?


RSS is a feed. It lets your readers know when you make a blog post. 
Setting it up depends a lot on your site design. 
But the first step for me was to go to Feedburner and claim my feed. 
Your feed is typically Domain.com/feed
(So mine is http://darksbanebooks.com/feed)

Then you put a way for people to sub it on your site. I used a wordpress plugin that lets people sub my feed based on whatever service they use.


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## Lorena

This thread is golden! Another lurker here, taking notes. I'm bookmarking too 

I've been writing all my life. Only recently I started thinking about it like a business (lurking here and seeing people _actually _making a living with their writing). I hope I'll be able to publish mi first book in late September or October , but it's going to be in Spanish, a total different and tiny market.



Julz said:


> What a fun thread! Jumping on board so that I can continue watching this thread. Proud to be a member of the class of '15!!


I want to be a member too!! I'm working on it


----------



## James R Wells

SunnyDay913 said:


> I should add, also, that success stories should be treated with the same weight as the countless posts from those who are struggling. It's in our nature to think, "Ooh, look what she did! I can definitely do that, too!", and then be faced with crushing disappointment and self-doubt when our numbers don't match up. It's important to find your own path to success, however you decide to define it.


This is huge. There is a psychological tendency to look at the Joneses of our worlds and measure our shortcomings by our failure to keep up with them. It's great when the example is inspiring and leads to productive action, but the results will be on the scale of where the author presently is in the market.

For instance I watch the Top Rated list in my genre and was excited to climb past a few big names, then kind of bummed to see a new release blowing past me like a freight train. Why can't I do that? But that's just going to happen, so - onward.


----------



## Guest

Shei, congrats on the success of your two books.  I wish you many more successes!


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Among the things I've learned this summer, all tangentially or directly related to indie writing:
> 
> --It takes a hella long time to sell a home in a crappy real estate market.
> --kboards can be a contentious place a lot of times, but sometimes the community rallies for a good cause and that makes me kitty-purr happy.
> --Filing business paperwork is time-consuming but exciting work.
> --You have to be willing to review and revise your business plan on a regular basis.
> --Also got regular reminders here and elsewhere that everyone knows everything, even while at the same time, no one knows anything. So listen to everyone, and use what works for you and toss the rest. There are many paths to success.
> 
> And not directly writing-related, I learned:
> --"Latch" for a baby is a bigger thing than I had any idea about.
> --The new parent community is super nice and super helpful.
> --Marvel/Disney has plans for their movies through at least 2028, and there will likely be a new Star Wars movie almost every year from now until Armageddon. My soon-to-arrive son is going to be a geek--it is unavoidable; it is his destiny.


Latch is huge! Hehehe. And frustrating.
And I love the new parent community too. I am in an April 2014 FB group. We all had babies due in April 2014 and those women are some of my best friends. Its actually kind of crazy. Thank you, Internet.
And you sound like my husband. He is more of a Marvel guy. If its Marvel, he's geeking out. He is an encyclopedia of comic book knowledge. (Which I pretend to think is dorky but I actually think is endearing and adorable)



Julz said:


> What a fun thread! Jumping on board so that I can continue watching this thread. Proud to be a member of the class of '15!!


Yay, Julz! We're in it together! I love your spirit.



SunnyDay913 said:


> I should add, also, that success stories should be treated with the same weight as the countless posts from those who are struggling. It's in our nature to think, "Ooh, look what she did! I can definitely do that, too!", and then be faced with crushing disappointment and self-doubt when our numbers don't match up. It's important to find your own path to success, however you decide to define it. Just because you don't hit a home run right out of the gate doesn't mean that you won't do well. How many authors on Amazon only have one book published, with plans for more, and then are never heard from again? I like to take that as a lesson, and a warning.


Such sage advice. My Grandma always told me to "stay in your own lane" and "eyes on your own paper." Every journey is different. We can certainly learn from one another and not repeat mistakes. But sometimes what works for one, won't work for another. They key is finding what works for you.

@Shei- You blow my mind, girl! I am so incredibly stoked for you and find it inspiring what you've accomplished. I hope it continues! It sounds you've found some sticky-ness. What an incredible trajectory you're on.



Lorena said:


> This thread is golden! Another lurker here, taking notes. I'm bookmarking too
> 
> I've been writing all my life. Only recently I started thinking about it like a business (lurking here and seeing people _actually _making a living with their writing). I hope I'll be able to publish mi first book in late September or October , but it's going to be in Spanish, a total different and tiny market.
> 
> I want to be a member too!! I'm working on it


This is awesome! And different and tiny can be advantageous, especially in a growing global ebook market. You will have to update us on everything! Welcome to the n00b squad.


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

Shei, your success has been awesome to watch.


----------



## Guest

AubreyGross said:


> Aww, thanks (I totally have Hell's Belles in my TBR, too, just haven't had as much time to read here lately). As for what caused the jump, I never did figure out what caused it but I have theories. One is that also boughts kicked in, and I was getting some Bella Andre Also Bought love for a while (I'm sure that can't hurt, right?). I'm wondering if Amazon sent out an email with Between the Seams in it, or if someone who had my book on their also boughts ran a Bookbub that Tuesday and I just got some side sales off that. That Tuesday was also a huge release day in romance--lots of big names had books come out that day--so it could have been that, too. Basically, I think sometimes luck really does come in to play, and any time you try to recreate that you just end up falling flat on your face (I've been trying to keep Big Girls Need Love Too in the HNR in the hopes that Amazon will show it some love via email to help boost sales...so far no luck with any 'zon help).
> 
> It's taken a while to get any traction with the other retailers. B&N sold well for me at first, but then they redesigned their website and it was like my sales there tanked. Kobo's pretty much nothing for me. I've slowly been gaining traction on iBooks, though, which is promising.


Oooooh a Bella Andre also-bought would be pretty damn nice. You know, I never think of the BookBub connection; how an author in your also-boughts having it could actually benefit YOU too. Makes complete sense. What sucks about those things is that they're so out of our control in many ways. Its not something we can duplicate.

iBooks is growing and growing so gaining traction there is huge. I think once my serial has been out for about 3 months I am going to make it wide. We will see. I change my mind weekly.


----------



## Jim Johnson

BelleAC said:


> And you sound like my husband. He is more of a Marvel guy. If its Marvel, he's geeking out. He is an encyclopedia of comic book knowledge. (Which I pretend to think is dorky but I actually think is endearing and adorable)


He's way ahead of me, then. I read a lot of comics back in the day, but have largely dropped off save for the occasional graphic novel or Valiant title. I love the Marvel movies, though, and as a series writer I love what they're doing with the continuity from movie to movie. And the movies are pulpy four-color comic fun. I watched Guardians of the Galaxy last night and it was such a fun space opera. Inspires me to go for it in my writing, no holds barred.

I watch the grimdark DC comics movie trailers, and I'm just...eh. Gimme some fun Avengers or Ant-Man.


----------



## Overrated

I released my first book in May this year. Yay for the Class of 2015. Sales were good initially, but have fallen off. My page reads are going up, which is good, and after one freebie promo, I am seeing a glimmer of sticking. Not much, and it's less so at the moment, but there's some. 

I released the novella for my series today, as a matter of fact, and book 2 will be out next week. I plan on doing a little more promotion then.

I have to be honest. I'm sticking to my publishing schedule that I laid out for myself this year but summer kicked me square in the butt. Having the kids home, having company, the whole thing. My writing fell to the side, and the marketing, which I have lurked and bookmarked and taken notes on from here (thank you fellow KBers!) was nil.

It IS disappointing to not come out of the gate breathing fire, but I'm starting to see things move upward. Given the fact I haven't been able to be as focused as I want to on both the writing and business side of things, I am not really complaining. Just a little 'eh' about it sometimes. 

I'm going to absolutely have to find a better way to handle summer. I'm a SAHM, and kids can't just look at themselves all day long for two months. Well, they can, but it's not a pretty sight. 

It's hard to be the SAHP as well as WAH. I feel guilty when stuff at home isn't managed, but I am stressed because I have to keep moving forward with the career.

I am so impressed with everyone's progress. Shei, I've been watching you report your success, and it's fantastic to watch. Bella, I am really surprised you've only been at this since June.

One thing I would say is that it's worth it to set up your work on some sort of POD service. I am hand selling books in addition to ebooks, and next month, I'm part of the author signing at my regional writing conference. I hadn't thought of making print a priority but it's been a good decision for me.


----------



## KDKinney

Lisa Manifold said:


> I released my first book in May this year. Yay for the Class of 2015. Sales were good initially, but have fallen off. My page reads are going up, which is good, and after one freebie promo, I am seeing a glimmer of sticking. Not much, and it's less so at the moment, but there's some.
> 
> I released the novella for my series today, as a matter of fact, and book 2 will be out next week. I plan on doing a little more promotion then.
> 
> I have to be honest. I'm sticking to my publishing schedule that I laid out for myself this year but summer kicked me square in the butt. Having the kids home, having company, the whole thing. My writing fell to the side, and the marketing, which I have lurked and bookmarked and taken notes on from here (thank you fellow KBers!) was nil.
> 
> It IS disappointing to not come out of the gate breathing fire, but I'm starting to see things move upward. Given the fact I haven't been able to be as focused as I want to on both the writing and business side of things, I am not really complaining. Just a little 'eh' about it sometimes.
> 
> I'm going to absolutely have to find a better way to handle summer. I'm a SAHM, and kids can't just look at themselves all day long for two months. Well, they can, but it's not a pretty sight.
> 
> It's hard to be the SAHP as well as WAH. I feel guilty when stuff at home isn't managed, but I am stressed because I have to keep moving forward with the career.
> 
> I am so impressed with everyone's progress. Shei, I've been watching you report your success, and it's fantastic to watch. Bella, I am really surprised you've only been at this since June.
> 
> One thing I would say is that it's worth it to set up your work on some sort of POD service. I am hand selling books in addition to ebooks, and next month, I'm part of the author signing at my regional writing conference. I hadn't thought of making print a priority but it's been a good decision for me.


I relate to this so much. The sales and also that I'm also a SAHP and summer has been a struggle with any sort of steady progress. The kids I still have at home are teens, the youngest is 13, but they are still needy and my house has needs too. Much easier to ignore the house even though it makes me crazy when I do. Something else that never fails-When I open Word, it suddenly becomes a child summoning device.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

Great post. Great Idea.

I too self-published my first book 'Fusion' this year back in March. Sold the staggering total of 30 copies so far. Not exactly stellar. But hay... gotta start somewhere. 

But to be fair, I know why it's selling next to nothing. The genre is a bit odd, 'old school technothriller'. The cover is basic, along with an uninspiring blurb. That said, at least I know that now all thanks what I've learned here on kboards.

So, I'm currently writing a scifi series: 'Colony One Mars'. Book one is finished first draft, book two and three have complete outlines done. That's another thing I learned, 'outline' first, makes writing much faster.

Anyway here's wishing you all success in 2015


----------



## KDKinney

Shei Darksbane said:


> RSS is a feed. It lets your readers know when you make a blog post.
> Setting it up depends a lot on your site design.
> But the first step for me was to go to Feedburner and claim my feed.
> Your feed is typically Domain.com/feed
> (So mine is http://darksbanebooks.com/feed)
> 
> Then you put a way for people to sub it on your site. I used a wordpress plugin that lets people sub my feed based on whatever service they use.


Thank you! I will see if I can figure it out. Just a few hours ago my computer techie brother-in-law helped me get my domain name and email address and he'll convert my basic Wordpress site over so I'll see if I can get the RSS activated too.


----------



## KDKinney

geraldmkilby said:


> Great post. Great Idea.
> 
> I too self-published my first book 'Fusion' this year back in March. Sold the staggering total of 30 copies so far. Not exactly stellar. But hay... gotta start somewhere.
> 
> But to be fair, I know why it's selling next to nothing. The genre is a bit odd, 'old school technothriller'. The cover is basic, along with an uninspiring blurb. That said, at least I know that now all thanks what I've learned here on kboards.
> 
> So, I'm currently writing a scifi series: 'Colony One Mars'. Book one is finished first draft, book two and three have complete outlines done. That's another thing I learned, 'outline' first, makes writing much faster.
> 
> Anyway here's wishing you all success in 2015


Every time I see your cover, it grabs my attention. I really like it.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

KDKinney said:


> Every time I see your cover, it grabs my attention. I really like it.


Thanks for that. You just put a big smile on my face. 

I like it myself, I'm just not sure if it says 'technothriller'. Maybe it does, I just don't know.

I've decided to forget about 'Fusion' for the moment and focus on the series. Otherwise I would end up torturing myself with tweaks and changes, and keywords, and categories, and...

At the end of the day, there is only so much that can be done with just one book. Best to get a few more out there and then take stock.


----------



## Cxxxxxxx

Ooh, I love the idea of a newbie thread! Seeing all of the longer-term success stories can be inspiring, but I also frequently find myself overwhelmed, intimidated, and sometimes jealous. 

I released my first novel on June 30. It's lengthy epic historical fantasy and the first in a series of five. I didn't do much promotion because I really needed to focus on getting the next book done. Right now I'm on an every-six-month release schedule but am hoping to speed that up before long.

I was pleasantly surprised by my first month. I'd expected maybe ten sales, but did about 30 instead, sold a dozen print copies, and had several thousand KU pages read. I made over $100 and was absolutely thrilled.

As far as I could tell, most of July was sales to people I knew- family and friends were very supportive- and online friends I've made through my blog and a few writing groups I'm part of on Twitter. My husband is also a huge social media butterfly and reached out to a bunch of groups that he's active in and I know that's generated some sales. My dream is to make enough money so he can quit his job and become my marketing director. 

I ran a free promo toward the end of July, gave away about 700 copies, and since then, sales have been pretty steady at 1-2 per day with intermittent surges of KU activity. It was thrilling to spend three days at #2 on the free bestsellers for historical fantasy. I drove my family nuts with my texting of screenshots. It helps that they already realize I'm "eccentric."

After the promo I dropped the price from 4.99 to 2.99 so that might have helped too.

I'm committed to spending no money on promos until I launch the second book in January. I used the free option on about 10 promo sites and felt I got good results while learning how these promo things work.

I'm a little worried at how quickly I became obsessed with my sales and rankings and am actively trying to curb the constant checking. I'm in the throes of editing the second book, which is far more ambitious than the first, through a summer laden with health problems and planning my parents golden anniversary party at the end of August. I'm recovering from minor surgery, which should give me a boost on the health front, and I'm anxious to get back to work as soon as I'm done with the pain meds. Seeing so many other writers with physical and mental challenges has been really inspiring.

Even though I've tried to do everything right when it comes to asking for reviews and mailing list sign ups, I've gotten very little traction there. I'm trying not to worry about it. 

I'll definitely be following this thread and cheering y'all on!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Adair Hart

Wilden Turk said:


> Great idea for a thread! I was thinking a few days ago we should start a Kboarders freshman class of 2015.


Although not officially a part of this class just yet (still a middle schooler!), I was thinking if there was a class badge, how would it look:










Used the Lato font with a slight gradient to reflect the light shining down and a kerning adjustment on "Class". Anyways, just horsing around.


----------



## R.U. Writing

Adair Hart said:


> Although not officially a part of this class just yet (still a middle schooler!), I was thinking if there was a class badge, how would it look:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Used the Lato font with a slight gradient to reflect the light shining down and a kerning adjustment on "Class". Anyways, just horsing around.


Love it!!


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## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> Although not officially a part of this class just yet (still a middle schooler!), I was thinking if there was a class badge, how would it look:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Used the Lato font with a slight gradient to reflect the light shining down and a kerning adjustment on "Class". Anyways, just horsing around.


I love this! I wish I had one for 2014. That's when I started.


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## Adair Hart

Jolie du Pre said:


> I love this! I wish I had one for 2014. That's when I started.


Here you go!










If there is a central repository we should put images like this, I can move it there as well. I am just hanging it off my site at the moment. if anyone wants to grab it and tweak it have at it!


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> Here you go!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If there is a central repository we should put images like this, I can move it there as well. I am just hanging it off my site at the moment. if anyone wants to grab it and tweak it have at it!


Thank you!


----------



## Guest

Adair, Here is the link for the thread with all the badges. You can add them there if you'd like.

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,150985.msg2188356.html#msg2188356


----------



## Adair Hart

Jolie du Pre said:


> Adair, Here is the link for the thread with all the badges. You can add them there if you'd like.
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,150985.msg2188356.html#msg2188356


Excellent Jolie! Appreciate the link. I will update it tonight after work, maybe do 2010 to 2020.


----------



## Lorena

BelleAC said:


> This is awesome! And different and tiny can be advantageous, especially in a growing global ebook market. You will have to update us on everything! Welcome to the n00b squad.


Thanks Belle!! 



Adair Hart said:


> Although not officially a part of this class just yet (still a middle schooler!), I was thinking if there was a class badge, how would it look:


Now I'm going to write like crazy only to wear the badge...


----------



## Guest

Oh, class of 2015 here, too! Published Resurrected on June 15, Insurrection (book 2) in late July, and Final Sacrifice in early August.

August has been demoralizing as far as sales. 

I don't know how many copies of Resurrected I've sold. Over 100, but fewer than 150, I think but that's just e-books.

I have a TERRIBLE keeping-up-with-the-Joneses complex, so sometimes, I go days where I force myself to avoid Kboards. Otherwise, I get too depressed and moody and that's not good for my writing, my sanity or my family.

OTOH … yesterday was probably my best writing moment EVER. Only sold one book, but it had nothing to do with sales.

So … my mom is my idol. Seriously. The woman is a SAINT. And VERY Catholic. My trilogy has a lot of bad language, violence and some sex scenes. I warned her not to read them, and she said ok. She'd read a novel I wrote years ago that wasn't as rated-R, she knew she liked my writing style, but was trusting she didn't want to read those things coming from her daughter.

But she finally couldn't take it. I'd left a copy of Resurrected at her house, just so she could have it and show it off as a "My daughter wrote this!" kind of thing, because as all parents know, we want to brag about our kids no matter how old our kids are, right?

Well, she started reading. I honestly expected her to give up on it after the first few chapters because of the language alone. My mom can't STAND the f-word and there's quite a few f-bombs in there ….

Yesterday, she called me to tell me she FINISHED the book and LOVED it. She loved it so much, she couldn't put it down and read through the Price is Right (which is like … WHOA, huge … she never misses the Price is Right). AND she wants to read books 2 and 3 even though I've warned her Eric's mouth (who narrates book 2) may actually be worse than Dietrich's (book 1's narrator). She said she doesn't care. She loves the story that much.

And the daughter who adores her mother just melted into a puddle of happy-kid-praise-from-mommy goo. 

But really, it was like winning the Pulitzer. Made my freaking day. My week. Maybe even made up for the horrible sales month I'm having. It restored my faith that this series IS really good - I just need to find the right audience for it. Hell, if my MOM, who is more into the PBS/Hallmark channel version of things, could get through it and past the language and violence (she skipped the sex part though), then maybe I just need to figure out how to get it visible. IDK. 

But, yeah, that's … kinda pointless, isn't it? I forgot where I was going with this.  

OH. Working on new series. Hoping to release book 1 in early September. The book is almost ready, just some final edits needed, but I'm having custom covers done so waiting on those. Excited for that, too. 

Ok, I think that's all.

Best wishes to all!


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> Excellent Jolie! Appreciate the link. I will update it tonight after work, maybe do 2010 to 2020.


You're welcome! I went ahead and linked the badge you made to this thread rather than the badge thread. That way more newbies can get here.


----------



## Jim Johnson

I like the class badges. Any way to add an indie or hybrid tag to it? I started getting published back in 2001 or thereabouts with tradpub and small presses so I'm technically class of 2001, not 2015, but indie-wise, I'd be all over 2015. 

Probably too nitpicky? Probably. Back to the WIP.


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> I like the class badges. Any way to add an indie or hybrid tag to it? I started getting published back in 2001 or thereabouts so I'm technically class of 2001, not 2015, but indie-wise, I'd be all over 2015.
> 
> Probably too nitpicky? Probably. Back to the WIP.


Hmm, good idea! A different color container would probably work well. I updated the thread Jolie linked me to with 2010 to 2020. Maybe something like this?










Another Idea:


----------



## Guest

mshistory said:


> Oh, class of 2015 here, too! Published Resurrected on June 15, Insurrection (book 2) in late July, and Final Sacrifice in early August.
> 
> August has been demoralizing as far as sales.
> 
> I don't know how many copies of Resurrected I've sold. Over 100, but fewer than 150, I think but that's just e-books.
> 
> I have a TERRIBLE keeping-up-with-the-Joneses complex, so sometimes, I go days where I force myself to avoid Kboards. Otherwise, I get too depressed and moody and that's not good for my writing, my sanity or my family.
> 
> OTOH ... yesterday was probably my best writing moment EVER. Only sold one book, but it had nothing to do with sales.
> 
> So ... my mom is my idol. Seriously. The woman is a SAINT. And VERY Catholic. My trilogy has a lot of bad language, violence and some sex scenes. I warned her not to read them, and she said ok. She'd read a novel I wrote years ago that wasn't as rated-R, she knew she liked my writing style, but was trusting she didn't want to read those things coming from her daughter.
> 
> But she finally couldn't take it. I'd left a copy of Resurrected at her house, just so she could have it and show it off as a "My daughter wrote this!" kind of thing, because as all parents know, we want to brag about our kids no matter how old our kids are, right?
> 
> Well, she started reading. I honestly expected her to give up on it after the first few chapters because of the language alone. My mom can't STAND the f-word and there's quite a few f-bombs in there ....
> 
> Yesterday, she called me to tell me she FINISHED the book and LOVED it. She loved it so much, she couldn't put it down and read through the Price is Right (which is like ... WHOA, huge ... she never misses the Price is Right). AND she wants to read books 2 and 3 even though I've warned her Eric's mouth (who narrates book 2) may actually be worse than Dietrich's (book 1's narrator). She said she doesn't care. She loves the story that much.
> 
> And the daughter who adores her mother just melted into a puddle of happy-kid-praise-from-mommy goo.
> 
> But really, it was like winning the Pulitzer. Made my freaking day. My week. Maybe even made up for the horrible sales month I'm having. It restored my faith that this series IS really good - I just need to find the right audience for it. Hell, if my MOM, who is more into the PBS/Hallmark channel version of things, could get through it and past the language and violence (she skipped the sex part though), then maybe I just need to figure out how to get it visible. IDK.
> 
> But, yeah, that's ... kinda pointless, isn't it? I forgot where I was going with this.
> 
> OH. Working on new series. Hoping to release book 1 in early September. The book is almost ready, just some final edits needed, but I'm having custom covers done so waiting on those. Excited for that, too.
> 
> Ok, I think that's all.
> 
> Best wishes to all!


This post made me so happy for you. Its not pointless at all! Our victories are not always about sales! I had a very similar moment with my grandma. She's a hardcore Southern Baptist which pretty much judges everything and anything and I thought for sure she wouldn't touch my books, just seeing the word HELL emblazoned on them.

But surprise surprise... She's read them all. And keeps bugging me for the next ones. Gets a kick out of them. Made my lifetime. I could actually cry thinking about it. I live to please her. Always have and at almost 35, I still am. So I am so psyched for you! Our moms and grandmas will always root for us!


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> Although not officially a part of this class just yet (still a middle schooler!), I was thinking if there was a class badge, how would it look:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Used the Lato font with a slight gradient to reflect the light shining down and a kerning adjustment on "Class". Anyways, just horsing around.


SO COOL. Adding it now! Edit: I mean I WILL once its available. I saw Jolie's and got all excited. This is truly a great idea.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Adair Hart said:


> Hmm, good idea! A different color container would probably work well. I updated the thread Jolie linked me to with 2010 to 2020. Maybe something like this?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another Idea:


I like the color schemes. How would you differentiate indies-only from hybrids?


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> I like the color schemes. How would you differentiate indies-only from hybrids?


Jim, why are you being high-maintenance right now? LOL! (Just kidding, sweetie.  )


----------



## Jim Johnson

Jolie du Pre said:


> Jim, why are you being high-maintenance right now? LOL! (Just kidding, sweetie.  )


LOL I want all the medallions.


----------



## KinkyWriter

Class of 2015 here too  

Haven't published my first book yet and will be doing so in KU2. I'm thinking of making it free (first in series) to get as many downloads via ads and reviews as possible. Then to make it $.99 or $2.99 (haven't decided yet). 

Do you guys think when I switch it from free to paid it will help my rank? Sorry, probably a dumb question  I mean what if my book is the #1 free book in romance and then I make it paid, when it shoot up to a top spot in romance because of all that traffic from the free downloads?

Or.... Should I just start my first book at $.99?

Also, I agree with @BelleAC that iBooks is growing and would love to have my book on there. But as a new author I need the visibility and initial traction in KU2. Perhaps, after 3 months or so I can see how things are going and decide about staying or going wide...

Love this thread! <3


----------



## Jenna_Elle

Another member of the class of 2015 here! I just published5 days ago and it's been crickets so far.... But at least it's out there!


----------



## SunnyDay913

KinkyWriter said:


> Class of 2015 here too
> 
> Haven't published my first book yet and will be doing so in KU2. I'm thinking of making it free (first in series) to get as many downloads via ads and reviews as possible. Then to make it $.99 or $2.99 (haven't decided yet).
> 
> Do you guys think when I switch it from free to paid it will help my rank? Sorry, probably a dumb question  I mean what if my book is the #1 free book in romance and then I make it paid, when it shoot up to a top spot in romance because of all that traffic from the free downloads?
> 
> Or.... Should I just start my first book at $.99?
> 
> Also, I agree with @BelleAC that iBooks is growing and would love to have my book on there. But as a new author I need the visibility and initial traction in KU2. Perhaps, after 3 months or so I can see how things are going and decide about staying or going wide...
> 
> Love this thread! <3


I think (emphasis on _think_) that they are two completely separate rankings that have no bearing on each other. When I used to use my KU free days, I would get a ton of downloads and shoot up the free chart, and then as soon as it was over settle back down into the oblivion of the paid rankings.


----------



## KinkyWriter

SunnyDay913 said:


> I think (emphasis on _think_) that they are two completely separate rankings that have no bearing on each other. When I used to use my KU free days, I would get a ton of downloads and shoot up the free chart, and then as soon as it was over settle back down into the oblivion of the paid rankings.


Oh no, this makes me sad  and isn't helping my stress levels lol.

So, maybe releasing it at $.99 is a better option?

I'm sorry to here that about your ranking.


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

mshistory said:


> OTOH ... yesterday was probably my best writing moment EVER. Only sold one book, but it had nothing to do with sales.
> 
> So ... my mom is my idol. Seriously. The woman is a SAINT. And VERY Catholic. My trilogy has a lot of bad language, violence and some sex scenes. I warned her not to read them, and she said ok. She'd read a novel I wrote years ago that wasn't as rated-R, she knew she liked my writing style, but was trusting she didn't want to read those things coming from her daughter.
> 
> But she finally couldn't take it. I'd left a copy of Resurrected at her house, just so she could have it and show it off as a "My daughter wrote this!" kind of thing, because as all parents know, we want to brag about our kids no matter how old our kids are, right?
> 
> Well, she started reading. I honestly expected her to give up on it after the first few chapters because of the language alone. My mom can't STAND the f-word and there's quite a few f-bombs in there ....
> 
> Yesterday, she called me to tell me she FINISHED the book and LOVED it. She loved it so much, she couldn't put it down and read through the Price is Right (which is like ... WHOA, huge ... she never misses the Price is Right). AND she wants to read books 2 and 3 even though I've warned her Eric's mouth (who narrates book 2) may actually be worse than Dietrich's (book 1's narrator). She said she doesn't care. She loves the story that much.
> 
> And the daughter who adores her mother just melted into a puddle of happy-kid-praise-from-mommy goo.
> 
> But really, it was like winning the Pulitzer. Made my freaking day. My week. Maybe even made up for the horrible sales month I'm having. It restored my faith that this series IS really good - I just need to find the right audience for it. Hell, if my MOM, who is more into the PBS/Hallmark channel version of things, could get through it and past the language and violence (she skipped the sex part though), then maybe I just need to figure out how to get it visible. IDK.
> 
> But, yeah, that's ... kinda pointless, isn't it? I forgot where I was going with this.
> 
> OH. Working on new series. Hoping to release book 1 in early September. The book is almost ready, just some final edits needed, but I'm having custom covers done so waiting on those. Excited for that, too.
> 
> Ok, I think that's all.
> 
> Best wishes to all!


It's so not all about the sales all the time. Those are nice. Seriously nice. But stuff like that? It's so rewarding. My stepmom left an awesome comment on my FB page the other day that was capped by this: "You've taught me to read again."

That made a really bad sales day a really good day.


----------



## CM Raymond

BelleAC said:


> This post made me so happy for you. Its not pointless at all! Our victories are not always about sales! I had a very similar moment with my grandma. She's a hardcore Southern Baptist which pretty much judges everything and anything and I thought for sure she wouldn't touch my books, just seeing the word HELL emblazoned on them.
> 
> But surprise surprise... She's read them all. And keeps bugging me for the next ones. Gets a kick out of them. Made my lifetime. I could actually cry thinking about it. I live to please her. Always have and at almost 35, I still am. So I am so psyched for you! Our moms and grandmas will always root for us!


This is amazing!


----------



## SunnyDay913

KinkyWriter said:


> Oh no, this makes me sad  and isn't helping my stress levels lol.
> 
> So, maybe releasing it at $.99 is a better option?
> 
> I'm sorry to here that about your ranking.


From what I've learned the general wisdom is not to make the first book free until you have at least one more in the series, or even two. That way your readers will have somewhere go once once they have finished the first, because free will give you much more exposure than paid in the early days of your career since you don't yet have a following.


----------



## Guest

KinkyWriter said:


> Class of 2015 here too
> 
> Haven't published my first book yet and will be doing so in KU2. I'm thinking of making it free (first in series) to get as many downloads via ads and reviews as possible. Then to make it $.99 or $2.99 (haven't decided yet).
> 
> Do you guys think when I switch it from free to paid it will help my rank? Sorry, probably a dumb question  I mean what if my book is the #1 free book in romance and then I make it paid, when it shoot up to a top spot in romance because of all that traffic from the free downloads?
> 
> Or.... Should I just start my first book at $.99?
> 
> Also, I agree with @BelleAC that iBooks is growing and would love to have my book on there. But as a new author I need the visibility and initial traction in KU2. Perhaps, after 3 months or so I can see how things are going and decide about staying or going wide...
> 
> Love this thread! <3


At one time, your free downloads made a huge difference in rank. But they changed the algos and now... not so much. I have been #121 in all of the free store and as soon as I went back to paid I was in the 5 digits again. Boo.

I also think its a good idea not to go permafree until you have another book for readers to download. Use it as a loss leader once you have something for them to buy. Otherwise, I think that's an excellent idea! Once Hell's Belles 1 is done with its 90 days in KU I will be making it permafree. I should have about 8 books for others to buy by then.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

SunnyDay913 said:


> Shei, that is just awesome! There's no other word for it. Your success has been fun to watch from the sidelines


Thanks so much for all the congrats. I really do appreciate it. 
But if anyone has any questions about anything I could help with, I'm totally here to help.

I've learned that even we newbs can help each other out here. We have still absorbed things from others, and had our own experiences.
And we've learned things only we can know. Like how it is for newbs right now.

So you guys who are just starting, feel free to ask questions. People like me and BelleAC and others here in this thread who have successfully launched books and sold them could still help you out a bit. 



Adair Hart said:


>


I love it! *pins one on* THanks Adair! 
And I love the colors on this.


----------



## Guest

Jenna_Elle said:


> Another member of the class of 2015 here! I just published5 days ago and it's been crickets so far.... But at least it's out there!


Go Jenna! Write that next book. I know it feels good though. You did what so many people only talk about.


----------



## James R Wells

mshistory said:


> OTOH ... yesterday was probably my best writing moment EVER. Only sold one book, but it had nothing to do with sales.
> 
> So ... my mom is my idol.
> 
> Yesterday, she called me to tell me she FINISHED the book and LOVED it. She loved it so much, she couldn't put it down and read through the Price is Right (which is like ... WHOA, huge ... she never misses the Price is Right). AND she wants to read books 2 and 3 even though I've warned her Eric's mouth (who narrates book 2) may actually be worse than Dietrich's (book 1's narrator). She said she doesn't care. She loves the story that much.
> 
> And the daughter who adores her mother just melted into a puddle of happy-kid-praise-from-mommy goo.
> 
> But really, it was like winning the Pulitzer. Made my freaking day. My week. Maybe even made up for the horrible sales month I'm having. It restored my faith that this series IS really good - I just need to find the right audience for it.


How great is this?!



BelleAC said:


> I had a very similar moment with my grandma. She's a hardcore Southern Baptist which pretty much judges everything and anything and I thought for sure she wouldn't touch my books, just seeing the word HELL emblazoned on them.
> 
> But surprise surprise... She's read them all. And keeps bugging me for the next ones. Gets a kick out of them. Made my lifetime. I could actually cry thinking about it. I live to please her. Always have and at almost 35, I still am. So I am so psyched for you! Our moms and grandmas will always root for us!


And this!


----------



## Guest

Shei Darksbane said:


> People like me and BelleAC and others here in this thread who have successfully launched books and sold them could still help you out a bit.


Honestly? For me? When I get back to the GOLD badge, that'll be cool. (Anything after that will be gravy, as far as *I'm* concerned.) So I'll keep working hard, but I'll also keep it real and continue being patient. I've learned a lot over the year. I'll continue to make mistakes (I'm sure), but hopefully I'll learn from them.  For *me* this is journey. It's not a sprint.


----------



## Julz

Lorena said:


> I want to be a member too!! I'm working on it


Cheering you on, Lorena!!


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Jolie du Pre said:


> Honestly? For me? When I get back to the GOLD badge, that'll be cool. (Anything after that will be gravy, as far as *I'm* concerned.) So I'll keep working hard, but I'll also keep it real and continue being patient. I've learned a lot over the year. I'll continue to make mistakes (I'm sure), but hopefully I'll learn from them.  For *me* this is journey. It's not a sprint.


I'm just trying to encourage the new members to ask questions if they have them.
Gosh, I'm not saying I have all the answers!

And mistakes are the best teacher. Absolutely.


----------



## Adair Hart

Lorena said:


> Thanks Belle!!
> 
> Now I'm going to write like crazy only to wear the badge...


You'll get there Lorena!



BelleAC said:


> SO COOL. Adding it now! Edit: I mean I WILL once its available. I saw Jolie's and got all excited. This is truly a great idea.


Thanks Belle!



Shei Darksbane said:


> Thanks so much for all the congrats. I really do appreciate it.
> But if anyone has any questions about anything I could help with, I'm totally here to help.
> 
> I've learned that even we newbs can help each other out here. We have still absorbed things from others, and had our own experiences.
> And we've learned things only we can know. Like how it is for newbs right now.
> 
> So you guys who are just starting, feel free to ask questions. People like me and BelleAC and others here in this thread who have successfully launched books and sold them could still help you out a bit.
> I love it! *pins one on* THanks Adair!
> And I love the colors on this.


No problem Shei! I too have learned from watching you on the sidelines and rooting for you!  Although I don't typically read your genre, I plan to read more outside my genre to widen my horizons, so yours is on the list as is quite a few other kboarders. Reading diversity ftw!



Jim Johnson said:


> I like the color schemes. How would you differentiate indies-only from hybrids?


I was thinking of making one specific to traditional publishers, so the year is prominent. Then if you did both, you would have both badges. Thoughts?



Jolie du Pre said:


> Jim, why are you being high-maintenance right now? LOL! (Just kidding, sweetie.  )


It's all good. I am a software/database developer by day, so am used to the questions. 



mshistory said:


> And the daughter who adores her mother just melted into a puddle of happy-kid-praise-from-mommy goo.


I hear yas on that! For me, it was my grandma. She introduced reading to me as a kid and I have fond memories of going to the library at summertime every week to pick up my weekly reading. I gave her the first two chapters of my finalized manuscript and she enjoyed it, wanting to read more. I was a bit nervous initially as there is some horror, comedy, technical, and language elements she wouldn't typically enjoy. She typically reads historical romance, but it made my day to hear her say she really liked it and looks forward to having a signed copy in her room at the nursing home. I think she is more excited than I am at times!


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

Fabulous thread! I'll be joining the 2015 Class when I publish in Sept. We'll see how it goes.



Shei Darksbane said:


> Thanks so much for all the congrats. I really do appreciate it.
> But if anyone has any questions about anything I could help with, I'm totally here to help.
> 
> I've learned that even we newbs can help each other out here. We have still absorbed things from others, and had our own experiences.
> And we've learned things only we can know. Like how it is for newbs right now.
> 
> So you guys who are just starting, feel free to ask questions. People like me and BelleAC and others here in this thread who have successfully launched books and sold them could still help you out a bit.
> I love it! *pins one on* THanks Adair!
> And I love the colors on this.


This is so true, Shei. There's a lot of great advice threads in this forum, but some of them are getting a bit stale. The marketplace has changed so much that newb advice is probably more valuable than veteran advice. It's just a different world for us now. BTW congrats on your success! It's so encouraging.


----------



## KDKinney

Thank you Jim and Shei for the information regarding the RSS on an author's blog/website. I just had my mine converted to a new domain name last night. Was able to mention that to my bro-in-law and I have it on my blog/website now.  

I love the badge, Adair. Thank you!


----------



## Joe M

Great thread. I'll be publishing in the fall and while I've been lurking I think I'll need to work up Shei type courage and start asking for some help. For me the forum has been a great motivator and at times daunting (that whole keeping up with the Jones's). 

One thing I will say is discouraging is that just about everyone that is finding success is in a clear genre with clear conventions and obligatory scenes. If you aren't writing, lets say, Stepbrother Billionaire Romance, or a type of horror, you get the sense that you're just asking for failure. Then again, that's likely because I haven't asked yet.

Enough grumble, grumble. Bella, Shei, and the whole gang of the class of 2015. You're cool.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Joe M said:


> One thing I will say is discouraging is that just about everyone that is finding success is in a clear genre with clear conventions and obligatory scenes. If you aren't writing, lets say, Stepbrother Billionaire Romance, or a type of horror, you get the sense that you're just asking for failure. Then again, that's likely because I haven't asked yet.


Once I get publishing I'll be happy to chime in with any abject success or failure. I'm writing stuff in niches of niches of weird western and urban fantasy. I have no idea if there's an audience for my particular facets because I haven't found an easily-defined bucket within those genres where my stuff will fit.


----------



## Susanne123

Wow. Supportive people and a badge! I'll be ready for the badge in the fall.

I do have a question. Does anyone find that have a business plan helps them? My publishing date keeps shifting as life implodes around me.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Susanne123 said:


> . Does anyone find that have a business plan helps them? My publishing date keeps shifting as life implodes around me.


I hear that. I was originally going to publish last March.
I have yet to publish.
Oops.


----------



## Clare W

> I hope I'll be able to publish mi first book in late September or October , but it's going to be in Spanish, a total different and tiny market.


Hi Lorena!

You might be surprised at the size of the Spanish market. I've seen some Spanish-language titles selling really well in the Amazon US store.

Good luck!

Clare


----------



## Adair Hart

KDKinney said:


> Thank you Jim and Shei for the information regarding the RSS on an author's blog/website. I just had my mine converted to a new domain name last night. Was able to mention that to my bro-in-law and I have it on my blog/website now.
> 
> I love the badge, Adair. Thank you!


Hey no problem! I went to check out your site, but it didn't load  It looks the link in your signature is going to https://kdkinney.com/ . If you drop the https to http, it pulls up fine (http://kdkinney.com/). I saw in your blog about your efforts to educate yourself on the business and marketing side. You're in the right place!


----------



## Lorena

Julz said:


> Cheering you on, Lorena!!





Adair Hart said:


> You'll get there Lorena!


Thanks guys!! 



Clare W said:


> Hi Lorena!
> 
> You might be surprised at the size of the Spanish market. I've seen some Spanish-language titles selling really well in the Amazon US store.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> Clare


Thanks, Clare!! That give me hope . In Spain people are not big on ereaders yet (or ebooks, for that matter) but it's true that the Spanish market is way bigger than Spain (thankfully).


----------



## JalexM

I guess I could join in. Released first novel in May. Releasing a weekly serial series in September trying to make the first episode permafree. 
My hope is with the weekly releases the amazon algos would work in my favor and to quit my day job by February.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Susanne123 said:


> Wow. Supportive people and a badge! I'll be ready for the badge in the fall.
> 
> I do have a question. Does anyone find that have a business plan helps them? My publishing date keeps shifting as life implodes around me.


Self-publishing, if you intend to make money, is definitely a business. 
Having a business plan is probably only useful for those who studied business enough to know how to use one.
I didn't have a formalized business plan. But I do have a todo list. I use Todoist and I would go nuts without it.
Know when I plan to release the next book is pretty vital to having it finished in time. If I don't know the release date, how can I know how big my daily word goal needs to be?
How can I set a date by which to complete the covers? The formatting? 
So yeah, I do have a plan. I just put it into Todoist, schedule myself, and keep going.

Life will always implode around you if you let it.  Life has imploded around me this whole way and I've repeatedly had to turn to it and shout "Settle down now, or I'm turning this thing around."
In general, Life will settle down if you show it who's boss. 
(Sometimes things are unavoidable, but I found that prioritizing my writing above basically everything else was the only way to keep life from winning that game. It's been rough, but I think we've come to an understanding now.)
Just don't be afraid. Life happens to all of us. You can still do this!


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

Joe M said:


> One thing I will say is discouraging is that just about everyone that is finding success is in a clear genre with clear conventions and obligatory scenes. If you aren't writing, lets say, Stepbrother Billionaire Romance, or a type of horror, you get the sense that you're just asking for failure. Then again, that's likely because I haven't asked yet.


I know it seems like that, but there are several of us finding success without writing stepbrother billionaire werewolf shifter romances. ;-) Sure, I write contemporary romance, which has genre conventions, but I'm not writing in a particularly "hot" subgenre. And my latest release? It's a mashup of humorous women's fiction and romance, heavy on the heroine's journey but with a happily ever after, and it's doing pretty well.

So write what you want to write. This business is so incredibly fluid, and what's hot today probably won't be hot three months from now. And if you're writing books YOU want to read, odds are you're not the only one who wants to read those types of books.


----------



## DanielPotter

Good show all.

I'll toss my hat into the ring. 

I published the first in my Freelance Familiars back on July 12th and its been definite success, nothing like Shei's but encouraging all the same. I launched with some help from the artist who did some art for the book that gave me some initial sales and strong boost from the furry community.  I sold over 200 books in my first month and got fantastic reviews. Now I'm doing my first kindle count down deal and my ENT ad resulted in over a 100 sales! With other promotions approaching the 50 book mark.  I have short novela for folks who sign up for my mailing list. Thats still humble at 19 subscribers but thats a start.  

Its been a huge inspiration to write the next one as fast as I can. I've been attempting 10k a week but falling a little short of that.  Once the count down ad it over I'm going to launch a FB campaign and investigate a few other promotional opportunities. 

So my biggest trouble is figuring out how to talk about the book. Its a strange little beast of a story. I got a review today that compared it to a mashup of Harry Potter and Over the Hedge. Which is accurate to a point? Thomas would prefer to be compared to Harry Dresden but when you have a squirrel rigging your home for detonation I suppose thats too much to hope for.   

Anyway I'll be over here plugging away.


----------



## Guest

Susanne123 said:


> Wow. Supportive people and a badge! I'll be ready for the badge in the fall.
> 
> I do have a question. Does anyone find that have a business plan helps them? My publishing date keeps shifting as life implodes around me.


I didn't follow my business plan/publishing schedule last year and the beginning of this year, and it hurt me.

Never again.

I stick to my publishing schedule now, NO MATTER WHAT. That means that my books will be published on the days I schedule them to be published. If I've missed two days of writing, well, guess what? I'll have to make those up so that I can make my publishing deadline. (Yep, I give myself publishing deadlines. It doesn't matter that I don't write for a publisher anymore.)

My next book will be published on Monday, which is book two of my serial. I made that deadline, and unless there's a severe emergency or I'm dead, I intend to make ALL of the rest of my deadlines for the remainder of my fiction writing career.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Susanne123 said:


> Wow. Supportive people and a badge! I'll be ready for the badge in the fall.
> 
> I do have a question. Does anyone find that have a business plan helps them? My publishing date keeps shifting as life implodes around me.


It has helped me a lot, but I think it's partly a personal thing. If it works for you, use one. If not, don't. I've revised mine several times since the initial draft. I've also changed the notional publishing dates in it, though the business plan is less about scheduling than it is about the bigger-level business stuff. I have a separate production schedule document.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Jolie du Pre said:


> I didn't follow my business plan/publishing schedule last year and the beginning of this year, and it hurt me.
> 
> Never again.
> 
> I stick to my publishing schedule now, NO MATTER WHAT. That means that my books will be published on the days I schedule them to be published. If I've missed two days of writing, well, guess what? I'll have to make those up so that I can make my publishing deadline. (Yep, I give myself publishing deadlines. It doesn't matter that I don't write for a publisher anymore.)
> 
> My next book will be published on Monday, which is book two of my serial. I made that deadline, and unless there's a severe emergency or I'm dead, I intend to make ALL of the rest of my deadlines for the remainder of my fiction writing career.


Sounds similar to what I'm talking about doing, but could you give us any example of your business plan? I really wonder if what I'm doing is enough. :3


----------



## Guest

Love what both Shei and Jolie have said about sticking to a plan.

I don't have a formal business plan with objectives or anything, but I do have a publishing schedule. I make myself stick to it by actually sending it to my readers via my newsletter. It puts the pressure on me to STICK TO IT. I also will schedule promos and stuff around my publishing dates which also makes me not get behind. (After all, I want my promos to benefit me as much as possible. Having a big promo for book 1 on the day I publish book 2 with the link to book 2 in the back matter of book 1 is huge for me) I am someone who needs pressure to get it done. I need a deadline. I need to know that if I don't stick to what I said I would do, I am disappointing my readers. Otherwise I WILL procrastinate. Its my nature. I am the best at it. 

I treat this like I would any job. When I was working as a claims adjuster I had to show up. I had to do a certain number of claims a day. When I was a limo driver in Las Vegas, I had to show up. People made reservations. I couldn't just not go to work. So I treat my writing schedule like that. Fortunately I have a husband who also supports that and helps me make it happen. I am not making money yet but when I do, I truly feel like I will be ready. I write 6000 words a day no matter what. I take 1-2 days off a week. If I don't hit my goals, I don't get those days off. 

Right now its about building my catalog. Its hard as hell and some days I wonder if its all for nothing. But to allow myself to think that way is pointless and self-defeating.


----------



## Guest

Shei Darksbane said:


> Sounds similar to what I'm talking about doing, but could you give us any example of your business plan? I really wonder if what I'm doing is enough. :3


Shei, your books are doing well. So just keep doing what you're doing.

~~~

My schedule from July to the rest of 2015 looks something like this, less some of the details:

July - Novel

August - Serial 1A
Serial 2A

September - Serial 3A
Serial 4A

October - Novella Series 1A
Serial 5A

November - Christmas Novel
Novella Series 2A

December - Novella Series 3A
Novella Series 1B

However, I'm also considering the Liliana Nirvana Technique, and if I do, that would begin in December.

http://www.hughhowey.com/the-liliana-nirvana-technique/

July - Novel

August - Serial 1A
Serial 2A

September - Serial 3A
Serial 4A

October - Novella Series 1A
Serial 5A

November - Christmas Novel
Novella Series 2A

December - Novella Series 3A
Novella Series 1B/2B/3B/4B/5B


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Right now its about building my catalog. Its hard as hell and some days I wonder if its all for nothing. But to allow myself to think that way is pointless and self-defeating.


It's hard because we want results right away. But that only happens for a small number of people.


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> It's hard because we want results right away. But that only happens for a small number of people.


Yep. So damn true. This is a slow climb. But every book is a step up. I actually JUST came to terms with this. I started this with very unrealistic expectations.

Once I made peace with how it really is for most of us, I was able to step back and really get that if I want this its going to take a lot of work. And even then there's no guarantee of success. But the more I know about the market and the better I write (which I feel like I DO get better with each book) and the more I have out there, the better my chances.

I also love that you're trying to Lilliana technique. I am doing that (kind of) with my serial. On Sept 8th I am publishing parts 4 and 5 the same day. A month later I will do the same with 6 and 7 and a month later with 8 and 9. And right after Christmas I will publish the last part by itself because its going to be novel length to wrap it all up. And then I will publish a box set of the entire series.

I love how you work, Jolie!


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Yep. So damn true. This is a slow climb. But every book is a step up. I actually JUST came to terms with this. I started this with very unrealistic expectations.
> 
> Once I made peace with how it really is for most of us, I was able to step back and really get that if I want this its going to take a lot of work. And even then there's no guarantee of success. But the more I know about the market and the better I write (which I feel like I DO get better with each book) and the more I have out there, the better my chances.
> 
> I also love that you're trying to Lilliana technique. I am doing that (kind of) with my serial. On Sept 8th I am publishing parts 4 and 5 the same day. A month later I will do the same with 6 and 7 and a month later with 8 and 9. And right after Christmas I will publish the last part by itself because its going to be novel length to wrap it all up. And then I will publish a box set of the entire series.
> 
> I love how you work, Jolie!


I love how you work, too. 

A year from now, things are going to look a LOT different for both of us. I'm excited. 

~~~~

With the Lilliana technique, she focuses on novels. But I'm apply it to 25,000 word novellas. I know damn well that I can't publish five full-length novels at once. Sure there are authors who can. But I'm realistic with what *I'm* capable of doing, and five full-length novels in one month, followed by another one the next month, ain't gonna work for me. LOL! So 25,000 word novellas, it is. (In the past, novellas have done just fine for me.)


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Jolie du Pre said:


> Shei, your books are doing well. So just keep doing what you're doing.
> ~~~
> My schedule from July to the rest of 2015 looks something like this, less some of the details:


Ah but this answered a question for me anyway.  If this is a "business plan" then yes, I have one. 
I guess when I hear the word "business plan" I think of those forms the SBA has.
They were confusing, required knowledge of business stuff I just didn't have... etc. 

THIS, this I have. 
And yes, I highly recommend doing this!



Jolie du Pre said:


> With the Lilliana technique, she focuses on novels. But I'm apply it to 25,000 word novellas. I know damn well that I can't publish five full-length novels at once. Sure there are authors who can. But I'm realistic with what *I'm* capable of doing, and five full-length novels in one month, followed by another one the next month, ain't gonna work for me. LOL! So 25,000 word novellas, it is. (In the past, novellas have done just fine for me.)


This is actually what I used to set my publishing schedule too... I published book 1, then book 2 after 3 weeks. Book 3 (which is my wife's book1, but the series has both our names on it, just as mine do) will be arriving 28 days after book 2. From here on out, we're publishing SOMETHING every 28 days. I may well release a short on the same day as my wife's book1, just to give SOMETHING in my series as well. 
I'm concerned about keeping momentum in my series, so it's a very real possibility. I have about 8 short story ideas, and one that keeps pushing itself to the surface, so I may have to take a day or two and write it so I can put it out then.

But where will I find a hunky man to go on the cover of a side-short from a lesbian urban fantasy...


----------



## Julz

Susanne123 said:


> Wow. Supportive people and a badge! I'll be ready for the badge in the fall.
> 
> I do have a question. Does anyone find that have a business plan helps them? My publishing date keeps shifting as life implodes around me.


I wrote a super in-depth business plan (one of the many pieces of advice I received for how to start a business on the right foot) and it helped, but wasn't necessary. Just six months into the process, I'd say my business plan is not quite irrelevant, but close. 
I like Jolie, Belle, and Shei's approaches, just enough to be on top of things, but not taking time away from writing.


----------



## Guest

Shei Darksbane said:


> Ah but this answered a question for me anyway.  If this is a "business plan" then yes, I have one.
> I guess when I hear the word "business plan" I think of those forms the SBA has.
> They were confusing, required knowledge of business stuff I just didn't have... etc.


I think I know what you mean . . .

I have a DBA, an EIN, and I have a business account where my Amazon royalties are dropped, separate from my personal account.

I looked real quick online and found this. You (or others) may find it helpful:

https://janefriedman.com/2014/06/18/author-taxes/



> But where will I find a hunky man to go on the cover of a side-short from a lesbian urban fantasy...


Ha Ha! You're making a name for yourself in your niche. You don't need one of those hunky headless torsos.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Jolie du Pre said:


> I think I know what you mean . . .
> 
> I have a DBA, an EIN, and I have a business account where my Amazon royalties are dropped, separate from my personal account.
> 
> I looked real quick online and found this. You (or others) may find it helpful:
> 
> https://janefriedman.com/2014/06/18/author-taxes/


Very useful!! Thank you. :3 I have to figure out this "taxes" thing soon c_c
I don't think I'll need it so much this year (I'd have to make a LOT to fall into a taxable bracket from here...) But if I end up needing it, I'll also need an accountant. I suck with numbers. >_<



Jolie du Pre said:


> Ha Ha! You're making a name for yourself in your niche. You don't need one of those hunky headless torsos.


Hahaha! Yeah, but the sidestory I'm thinking of writing as a short is about a hunky male character XD


----------



## KDKinney

Adair Hart said:


> Hey no problem! I went to check out your site, but it didn't load  It looks the link in your signature is going to https://kdkinney.com/ . If you drop the https to http, it pulls up fine (http://kdkinney.com/). I saw in your blog about your efforts to educate yourself on the business and marketing side. You're in the right place!


Aww, thanks for the heads up. I'll go in and fix that. Thanks for checking out my blog.  Yes, this stuff is over my head. I have a son-in-law that is great with computer programming. He creates Apps for a living. He said he'd help me with some things I'm really struggling with grasping. I've been totally overwhelmed this week with some great information I've learned and it feels like I'm learning a foreign language. There's a reason why I only know English.  It's a weird personality trait of mine, "It's too much information!! I can't do this." Later, "that wasn't so bad." Not sure that will be the case this time around though.


----------



## KDKinney

As far as a business plan goes, I have to be flexible. I was gearing up for self-publishing for months and I had planned to start publishing last summer but life had other plans for me. It was rough and I actually didn't write anything new for almost a year. I do see now that it was a good thing I had to wait. 

Right now I don't give my self set deadlines, but I do have a flexible goal in mind. I know getting my work out frequently will gain me some traction and that's motivating. My life ebbs and flows with chaos I guess and I also deal with migraines far too frequently. Man, that messes with productivity more than having 5 kids will. 

What I do have going for me is I have at least 5 novels on my computer that I just need to polish or work over. The new content that I need to write is not novel length. Editing sure takes plenty of time though.


----------



## Guest

Shei Darksbane said:


> Yeah, but the sidestory I'm thinking of writing as a short is about a hunky male character XD


Given the niche that your books are in and given the success of those books, I don't understand why you would do that.


----------



## Guest

Hey, n00bs! Happy Saturday! What are y'all up to today? This is usually my day off but I have some catching up to do. This morning I went fishing and crabbing with my boys. It really invigorated me. What do y'all do that's not writing to clear your head? And anyone have word count goals this weekend? By Monday I need to have written 7500 words.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Hey, n00bs! Happy Saturday! What are y'all up to today? This is usually my day off but I have some catching up to do. This morning I went fishing and crabbing with my boys. It really invigorated me. What do y'all do that's not writing to clear your head? And anyone have word count goals this weekend? By Monday I need to have written 7500 words.


Got my episode 2 of my serial uploaded to Amazon this morning, and I just returned from gardening.  Normally, I take my weekends off, more or less.


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

BelleAC said:


> Hey, n00bs! Happy Saturday! What are y'all up to today? This is usually my day off but I have some catching up to do. This morning I went fishing and crabbing with my boys. It really invigorated me. What do y'all do that's not writing to clear your head? And anyone have word count goals this weekend? By Monday I need to have written 7500 words.


Wow. Good luck! I hoped to finish my novelette this weekend but have gotten zilch done so far what with playdates and a charity dog run. We'll see how it goes.


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Got my episode 2 of my serial uploaded to Amazon this morning, and I just returned from gardening.  Normally, I take my weekends off, more or less.


That's a great morning! One of my goals is to start a garden. The climate down here would be great for it and all my friends who do it, love it. Tomatoes, squash, and zucchini. Those are my dream veggies. I hope your serial has a great week with a new release!



GhostGirlWriter said:


> Wow. Good luck! I hoped to finish my novelette this weekend but have gotten zilch done so far what with playdates and a charity dog run. We'll see how it goes.


It's hard to get things done on weekends when all the fun stuff is happening. I hope you're able to get some done tonight! I am only on 1200 words so far. Sigh.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> That's a great morning! One of my goals is to start a garden. The climate down here would be great for it and all my friends who do it, love it. Tomatoes, squash, and zucchini. Those are my dream veggies. I hope your serial has a great week with a new release!


I love fresh produce, but I don't have a vegetable garden.  I have a really big garden that's mostly a shade garden.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Jolie du Pre said:


> Given the niche that your books are in and given the success of those books, I don't understand why you would do that.


Because my stories are urban fantasy first, lesbian fantasy second.
When polled, my readers have answered which side characters they'd enjoy hearing a short story about, and I want to write a short story about one of them. He happens to be a hunky male.


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> I love fresh produce, but I don't have a vegetable garden.  I have a really big garden that's mostly a shade garden.


That sounds lovely too!


----------



## Guest

Shei Darksbane said:


> Because my stories are urban fantasy first, lesbian fantasy second.
> When polled, my readers have answered which side characters they'd enjoy hearing a short story about, and I want to write a short story about one of them. He happens to be a hunky male.


If the readers want it, the readers should get it!


----------



## Seshenet

BelleAC said:


> If the readers want it, the readers should get it!


Although I don't read romances, I personally have no objections to stories about hunky males.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Sheshenet said:


> Although I don't read romances, I personally have no objections to stories about hunky males.


Definitely not a romance. lol
I think why Bell and Julie were querying my idea for a hunky male story is because my main series is about a lesbian. 

But the hunky male is pretty important to the main story, so it'd definitely make sense to see some more of him.


----------



## Guest

Shei Darksbane said:


> Definitely not a romance. lol
> I think why Bell and Julie were querying my idea for a hunky male story is because my main series is about a lesbian.
> 
> But the hunky male is pretty important to the main story, so it'd definitely make sense to see some more of him.


Oh, I wasn't querying it. You do you! I was just saying if the readers want it, that's an even better reason to do it.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

BelleAC said:


> Oh, I wasn't querying it. You do you! I was just saying if the readers want it, that's an even better reason to do it.


Haha... words can be so complicated. I didn't take it to be a bad thing. XD
Just saying, that's what was being talked about and why.
*high fives*


----------



## Guest

Shei Darksbane said:


> Because my stories are urban fantasy first, lesbian fantasy second.
> When polled, my readers have answered which side characters they'd enjoy hearing a short story about, and I want to write a short story about one of them. He happens to be a hunky male.


Sounds good.  I misunderstood your characters and readership. My mistake.


----------



## Guest

Sheshenet said:


> Although I don't read romances, I personally have no objections to stories about hunky males.


Neither do I.


----------



## writerbee

Adair Hart said:


> Although not officially a part of this class just yet (still a middle schooler!), I was thinking if there was a class badge, how would it look:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Used the Lato font with a slight gradient to reflect the light shining down and a kerning adjustment on "Class". Anyways, just horsing around.


This is SO cool, thank you, Adair! I'm impressed you know how to create a badge just 'horsing around' ;-p (as for me, I'm just crossing my fingers that I added the code in the right place...;-p)

Great idea for a thread, BelleAC/Alison, thank you for starting it! Hell's Belles - great premise! Sounds like you're doing really well with it, too, despite the new policy re: borrows and the summer slump.

I too was gobsmacked by Amazon's new KENP policy [insert usual disclaimer here -- yes, it's more fair than a flat fee, agreed ;-p] I did OK in July, although not as well as I'd hoped, considering I put out the final part in my serial. Still, it got decent pages read and sales. 
August though....sigh. It's been a long, slow, cascading, tumble down a rocky cliff ;-p

It's encouraging me to focus more on writing my sequel serial, and also to finally try an actual promo (something more than just Tweets and FB posts, I mean)

Here's to the end of the summer doldrums -- cheers and onward!

DMac


----------



## Guest

writerbee said:


> This is SO cool, thank you, Adair! I'm impressed you know how to create a badge just 'horsing around' ;-p (as for me, I'm just crossing my fingers that I added the code in the right place...;-p)
> 
> Great idea for a thread, BelleAC/Alison, thank you for starting it! Hell's Belles - great premise! Sounds like you're doing really well with it, too, despite the new policy re: borrows and the summer slump.
> 
> I too was gobsmacked by Amazon's new KENP policy [insert usual disclaimer here -- yes, it's more fair than a flat fee, agreed ;-p] I did OK in July, although not as well as I'd hoped, considering I put out the final part in my serial. Still, it got decent pages read and sales.
> August though....sigh. It's been a long, slow, cascading, tumble down a rocky cliff ;-p
> 
> It's encouraging me to focus more on writing my sequel serial, and also to finally try an actual promo (something more than just Tweets and FB posts, I mean)
> 
> Here's to the end of the summer doldrums -- cheers and onward!
> 
> DMac


Yay! Thanks for the compliment. And yep... This August is a killer. But I find solace in knowing its like that for many. I call it the Month of Humility.

Good luck on finishing up the sequel serial! And promo! Hoping the fall is better for all of us.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Jolie du Pre said:


> Sounds good.  I misunderstood your characters and readership. My mistake.


No problem. :3
It's topping LGBT fantasy, but it's also on the front page of Contemporary Fantasy (now that I got the categories to finally propagate properly.)



BelleAC said:


> Yay! Thanks for the compliment. And yep... This August is a killer. But I find solace in knowing its like that for many. I call it the Month of Humility.
> 
> Good luck on finishing up the sequel serial! And promo! Hoping the fall is better for all of us.


I think this really depends on genre. Romance doesn't seem to love August. But it hasn't seemed like bad times for me.
Unless it is. And it would have been even better if it hadn't been late July/August for my launch.
But that, I'll never know.


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

BelleAC said:


> Hey, n00bs! Happy Saturday! What are y'all up to today? This is usually my day off but I have some catching up to do. This morning I went fishing and crabbing with my boys. It really invigorated me. What do y'all do that's not writing to clear your head? And anyone have word count goals this weekend? By Monday I need to have written 7500 words.


I usually try to get some writing in on the weekends, but this weekend it's all about cleaning the house.  As for what I do that's not writing to clear my head...read, watch a baseball game, love on my dogs, outdoorsy stuff. I've been doing far too much of the first three and not enough of the last one here lately, too.


----------



## Adair Hart

BelleAC said:


> Hey, n00bs! Happy Saturday! What are y'all up to today? This is usually my day off but I have some catching up to do. This morning I went fishing and crabbing with my boys. It really invigorated me. What do y'all do that's not writing to clear your head? And anyone have word count goals this weekend? By Monday I need to have written 7500 words.


Crabbing sounds intense! Sounds like we have the same wordcount goal.

I got excited yesterday and uploaded my print interior PDF along with my cover to createspace. The email for my files passing review came this morning. I ordered a proof which I will get Tuesday. Then I saw I had a typo on my back cover, sigh. My copyeditor had caught it a month ago and I missed changing it 

I was going to fix it and reupload, then go through the process of file review and ordering a print proof .... but then got an email from Bryan Cohen! He had a thread recently about doing a free review of blurbs. So I think I will just wait until he analyzes my blurb before updating CreateSpace.

On a positive note, I got 2500 words in along with 20k steps in fitbit. Book 2 is now at 48k/60k, first copyedit pass date is October 5th! Tomorrow, I plan to do 5k (word count, not marathon!).



writerbee said:


> This is SO cool, thank you, Adair! I'm impressed you know how to create a badge just 'horsing around' ;-p (as for me, I'm just crossing my fingers that I added the code in the right place...;-p)


Glad you like it! I have been using photoshop since version 4 way back in the day. I know it well enough to be dangerous!


----------



## dmaxwell

Thanks, Belle, for starting this thread. I thought I was the only newbie stumbling around here blindly, wondering if I was the only one without a clue what I was doing. Glad to see there are others. With my first two books published three days ago I officially join the Class of 2015 and am happy to receive my badge.

I've been lurking on kboards more than posting and lurking inconsistently. I had to ban myself from kboards in order to get my books finished and out the door. It's too tempting to stay on kboards and read every single thread but it's like drinking from a firehose. Plus, lots of the information is contradictory, which can be confusing to a newbie. And just when you start to think a philosophy makes sense (write fast, write short, publish quickly and often) the universe changes (write fast, write long, still publish quickly and often). I had a whole series planned of 30,000 word middle reader fairy-tale spinoffs. With the new KU system I'm not sure that strategy makes as much sense. But hey, publishing my first two forced me to learn things like how to source a cover, how to format for e-readers, how to upload, etc. so it wasn't time wasted.

No sales or pages read yet (the flatline dashboard is a bit of a downer) but I will admit seeing my books up on Amazon is a bit of a thrill regardless.


----------



## writerbee

Shei Darksbane said:


> Because my stories are urban fantasy first, lesbian fantasy second.
> When polled, my readers have answered which side characters they'd enjoy hearing a short story about, and I want to write a short story about one of them. He happens to be a hunky male.


Where did you poll? via your newsletter, blog, website? 
Just curious b/c I'm thinking of putting out some short stories about some minor characters (back story, and/or where are they now?) There were some review comments that the reader wondered about certain characters, so I thought it would be a good idea to do that, either as a 'gift' to my newsletter subscribers (I'm still so surprised that there ARE any, lol!),,,
... or maybe to publish as a short (although people would have to have read the serial first to know or care about these characters, so not sure how to handle that)

Anyway, wondering if you did a poll or just asked your fans on your FB author page, or what.

DMac


----------



## Matthew Stott

Phew, finally got around to implementing all the changes as recommended by my editor. One thing is clear, I am no genius when it comes to commas or comma splices. Hopefully I'll  improve.....   
This is the first book I'll publish, almost ready to go. I need one last big read over and fiddle, then to get the thing all nicely formatted and ready to upload.
And then... to publish... *GULP*


----------



## Shei Darksbane

writerbee said:


> Where did you poll? via your newsletter, blog, website?
> Just curious b/c I'm thinking of putting out some short stories about some minor characters (back story, and/or where are they now?) There were some review comments that the reader wondered about certain characters, so I thought it would be a good idea to do that, either as a 'gift' to my newsletter subscribers (I'm still so surprised that there ARE any, lol!),,,
> ... or maybe to publish as a short (although people would have to have read the serial first to know or care about these characters, so not sure how to handle that)
> 
> Anyway, wondering if you did a poll or just asked your fans on your FB author page, or what.
> 
> DMac


Nothing fancy. Just asked on my Facebook. Only got a few replies, but they followed what I was expecting. Likable characters were pretty predictable in my case though. 

Could always set up a poll on your website to collect a tally over time though.


----------



## Guest

AubreyGross said:


> I usually try to get some writing in on the weekends, but this weekend it's all about cleaning the house.  As for what I do that's not writing to clear my head...read, watch a baseball game, love on my dogs, outdoorsy stuff. I've been doing far too much of the first three and not enough of the last one here lately, too.


Why am I not shocked that watching baseball is one of your hobbies?  I just recommended your books to a friend of mine who was like "I need a book about a hot baseball player!"



Adair Hart said:


> Crabbing sounds intense! Sounds like we have the same wordcount goal.
> 
> I got excited yesterday and uploaded my print interior PDF along with my cover to createspace. The email for my files passing review came this morning. I ordered a proof which I will get Tuesday. Then I saw I had a typo on my back cover, sigh. My copyeditor had caught it a month ago and I missed changing it
> 
> I was going to fix it and reupload, then go through the process of file review and ordering a print proof .... but then got an email from Bryan Cohen! He had a thread recently about doing a free review of blurbs. So I think I will just wait until he analyzes my blurb before updating CreateSpace.
> 
> On a positive note, I got 2500 words in along with 20k steps in fitbit. Book 2 is now at 48k/60k, first copyedit pass date is October 5th! Tomorrow, I plan to do 5k (word count, not marathon!).


Crabbing is actually just my 3 year old running towards them and pointing. I pick them up and put them in a bucket and we free them all before going back home.  I love living near the marsh!

Um as impressive as your word count is I am more impressed with your 20k steps on Fitbit. Holy moly that's amazing! I struggle to even get 8k lately.



dmaxwell said:


> Thanks, Belle, for starting this thread. I thought I was the only newbie stumbling around here blindly, wondering if I was the only one without a clue what I was doing. Glad to see there are others. With my first two books published three days ago I officially join the Class of 2015 and am happy to receive my badge.
> 
> I've been lurking on kboards more than posting and lurking inconsistently. I had to ban myself from kboards in order to get my books finished and out the door. It's too tempting to stay on kboards and read every single thread but it's like drinking from a firehose. Plus, lots of the information is contradictory, which can be confusing to a newbie. And just when you start to think a philosophy makes sense (write fast, write short, publish quickly and often) the universe changes (write fast, write long, still publish quickly and often). I had a whole series planned of 30,000 word middle reader fairy-tale spinoffs. With the new KU system I'm not sure that strategy makes as much sense. But hey, publishing my first two forced me to learn things like how to source a cover, how to format for e-readers, how to upload, etc. so it wasn't time wasted.
> 
> No sales or pages read yet (the flatline dashboard is a bit of a downer) but I will admit seeing my books up on Amazon is a bit of a thrill regardless.


Right?? The rules are always changing. But one rule remains: Words. Words. Words. Unfortunately, that's also the most difficult.

So stoked for you! It IS exciting. If it helps, a lot of people are struggling with KU reads this week. Mine are literally less then half of what they were at the beginning of the month. August, man. Ughhh. I know they say April is the cruelest month but August has to be second.

I have 4 books and one day this week I had 66 pages read. Beginning of August I had over 2k to 3k a day. It's starting to rise but its tough. I am trying to look at it as Amanda does: KU is just a bonus. Sales are what really matter because KU can change at any time, including the algos and way that our reads and borrows are weighted.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Phew, finally got around to implementing all the changes as recommended by my editor. One thing is clear, I am no genius when it comes to commas or comma splices. Hopefully I'll improve.....
> This is the first book I'll publish, almost ready to go. I need one last big read over and fiddle, then to get the thing all nicely formatted and ready to upload.
> And then... to publish... *GULP*


Exciting!! I still struggle with commas and comma splices. Thank God for editors. Let us know when it's up!


----------



## writerbee

Shei Darksbane said:


> Nothing fancy. Just asked on my Facebook. Only got a few replies, but they followed what I was expecting. Likable characters were pretty predictable in my case though.
> 
> Could always set up a poll on your website to collect a tally over time though.


I'll do that, good idea. Polls engage the visitor / reader of the website (or in my case, blog) and if I get any feedback I can then decide how long a story, where to put it, etc. 
Thanks, Shei!

DMac


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

BelleAC said:
 

> Why am I not shocked that watching baseball is one of your hobbies?  I just recommended your books to a friend of mine who was like "I need a book about a hot baseball player!"


Yeah, the baseball thing's probably fairly obvious.  And THANK YOU for recommending my books. Super appreciated.


----------



## Susanne123

I wanted to thank everyone who responded to my question about business plans. Lots of good responses to filter through.

This thread is fast becoming a treasure trove of information.


----------



## Jenna_Elle

It amazes me how quickly this thread has grown! Loads to read through for sure. I dropped my phone the other day so it's been hard to read kboards with a broken screen and well...I should be writing anyways


----------



## AkBee

I started in Feb this year so just over 6 months for me. I write under a pen name as well and that has been great. If I can keep up my release schedule I will be happy. In 6 months, I have made a little bit more than 1/3 of what I would make working full time. By the time the next 6 months have passed I hope to have made as much as my annual take home if not a bit more. Today, I know I can do it! Ask me tomorrow and I would say I am crazy to dream 😉


----------



## tommy gun

I published my first piece in January of 2015.  I have 3 real estate guides (about getting into Real Estate as a Realtor and what you should do to prep and succeed).

I did that because there are so many think it is get rich quick.  It isn't.  Over half the people who get into the business are out in less than 2 years.

I am NOT making anywhere near as much as anyone else here as I am very specialized.  But I am also writing some SF.

If I get to the point where I move 10 books a month then that is good to go!

Stay positive everyone and keep writing!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Quiet bit of newbie business--I scheduled a meeting with a tax attorney for Wednesday. We'll be discussing the best options for whether I should go with a sole proprietorship, an S-corp, or another option for my company. Then, Thursday I'll make a decision and fill out and file all the necessary paperwork.

Also have the first installment of a 40k word novella series going to the editor on Friday. Episode 2 will go to the editor a week later. Edits in process on the first five books. Expecting to publish in late Sept or more likely sometime in October. Fun times!


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Quiet bit of newbie business--I scheduled a meeting with a tax attorney for Wednesday. We'll be discussing the best options for whether I should go with a sole proprietorship, an S-corp, or another option for my company. Then, Thursday I'll make a decision and fill out and file all the necessary paperwork.
> 
> Also have the first installment of a 40k word novella series going to the editor on Friday. Episode 2 will go to the editor a week later. Edits in process on the first five books. Expecting to publish in late Sept or more likely sometime in October. Fun times!


Looking forward to it, Jim.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

Embarrassing question from a web developer/programmer, But how do I add the badge to my sig?


----------



## Adair Hart

geraldmkilby said:


> Embarrassing question from a web developer/programmer, But how do I add the badge to my sig?


You can add this to your signature



Code:


[url=http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,150985.msg2188356.html#msg2188356][IMG]http://www.adairhart.com/content/images/2015_Class_badge.png[/IMG][/url]

either via Author Signature tool here:

http://www.kboards.com/authorsig/

or just goto Profile -> Forum Profile where you can adjust the raw HTML yourself there, which is what I do now.


----------



## Antara Mann

Bookmarked and following; how do I update some of my signature's covers? I private messaged one of the admins but he never replied me.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

Adair Hart said:


> or just goto Profile -> Forum Profile where you can adjust the raw HTML yourself there, which is what I do now.


Thanks for that, didn't see Forum Profile. I've been using the Author Sig tool.


----------



## J.C.Thomas

Hey!

It seems like you've been on quite a journey on the self-publishing road. I have not yet published (apart from an academic resource for ZigZag publishers for A-Level students studying Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in the UK).

It's great to have discovered this website with all the help, feedback, information and in-put from other readers and authors. I signed up yesterday and I'm quite overwhelmed by all the information! Seems like a great place to start to learn about how to go about self-publishing, marketing and everything KDP. I wish you all the best of luck with your book series and future projects. It seems like you've done really well so far with sales and I hope I can do that well with my novel. My novel is still in progress - I have been working on it for 6 years now!! It's very much been a labour of love for me and I submitted my manuscript (59,000 words) to my editor only yesterday. I had previously (since March 2015) submitted to various publishing houses in the hope I would get a traditional publishing contract and I got several offers - but all were 'contributory-based contracts' and wanted a horrendous sum! After seeking advice from a published author friend based in Australia - who told me this is 'vanity' publishing, I decide against it... and then decided to go down the KDP route.

It is great to have people who can give you sound advice... I'm super happy I've registered on KBoards for this reason  There is so much to learn!

My editor is doing a developmental edit of my manuscript and i'm prepared to put in the time and hard work upon receiving her evaluation.. When I'm happy with the final manuscript I plan to self-publish on KDP.

This has basically been a summary of my summer - amid other things like moving house, new job etc. I'm determined to get it to the best possible standard before pressing the 'publish' button on KDP.

I found this website while thinking about how to go about marketing my book: http://www.theindieview.com/indie-reviewers/ I think this would be a good way to go about obtaining reviews for my book once it is on Amazon and for sale... I didn't realise that readers out there would publish free reviews if you give them a free copy of your book. Does this seem like a good way to go?

On KBoards can you create an author page before your book is officially published on Amazon? I would love to create a page for my book prior to self-publishing to get the marketing ball rolling..

Help and guidance would be much appreciated 

Good luck to all authors out there, published and unpublished!

Cheers!


----------



## Adair Hart

geraldmkilby said:


> Thanks for that, didn't see Forum Profile. I've been using the Author Sig tool.


All good man! Fellow developer here. Quite a few times have I found myself trying to figure out third party tools and where half the options are 



Antara Man said:


> Bookmarked and following; how do I update some of my signature's covers? I private messaged one of the admins but he never replied me.


Hey Antara! I would think you can use the author signature tool to update it, or you can use the Forum-> Profile and edit the raw html there. The amazon links in your signature currently goto :



Code:


    <a href="http://amazon.com/dp/B00US3BM2Y/?tag=kbsig-20" class="bbc_link" target="_blank"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ccFaIa5zL._SL125_.jpg" alt="" class="bbc_img"></a> 
    <a href="http://amazon.com/dp/B00XHKD6JM/?tag=kbsig-20" class="bbc_link" target="_blank"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51n-5Yw32IL._SL125_.jpg" alt="" class="bbc_img"></a> 
    <a href="http://amazon.com/dp/B00RNF4D0I/?tag=kbsig-20" class="bbc_link" target="_blank"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lzjvvPVOL._SL125_.jpg" alt="" class="bbc_img"></a> 
    <a href="http://amazon.com/dp/B00U4A09TI/?tag=kbsig-20" class="bbc_link" target="_blank"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hMraJgmUL._SL125_.jpg" alt="" class="bbc_img"></a>

You could just update the amazon links to point to different ASIN's I would guess then update the images to point to the correct one.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Jim Johnson said:


> Quiet bit of newbie business--I scheduled a meeting with a tax attorney for Wednesday. We'll be discussing the best options for whether I should go with a sole proprietorship, an S-corp, or another option for my company. Then, Thursday I'll make a decision and fill out and file all the necessary paperwork.


Sounds complicated!

I'm editing book 1 of my Sci-Fi Fantasy series which is 80k words, and am 15k into book 2. I'm wondering whether to hold back, finish book 2, and get a start on book 1, and then release them all together with 1-month intervals.

Problem is, I wouldn't stand a chance in keeping up that monthly interval after that, unless I drop my word counts significantly.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Lukeofkondor said:


> Sounds complicated!


Hopefully not too much. I don't love figuring out tax issues on my own, so I'm going to a professional. The internet helped some, but with all the regular changes in tax codes and the like, best to get it worked out with someone who has more of a clue than I do.


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> either via Author Signature tool here:
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/authorsig/
> 
> or just goto Profile -> Forum Profile where you can adjust the raw HTML yourself there, which is what I do now.


I do a combination. I do my books with the Author Signature tool, and then I add the badges after that, directly in my Forum Profile, by adding code to the code the Author Signature tool created.


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Hopefully not too much. I don't love figuring out tax issues on my own, so I'm going to a professional. The internet helped some, but with all the regular changes in tax codes and the like, best to get it worked out with someone who has more of a clue than I do.


Sole proprietorship works fine for me. But everyone has to do what works for them.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Jolie du Pre said:


> I do a combination. I do my books with the Author Signature tool, and then I add the badges after that, directly in my Forum Profile, by adding code to the code the Author Signature tool created.


I mostly use the author sig tool to get code pieces. I almost always go to the Profile to actually implement them. 
Then I can't do things the easy way. c_c



J C Thomas said:


> It's great to have discovered this website with all the help, feedback, information and in-put from other readers and authors. I signed up yesterday and I'm quite overwhelmed by all the information! Seems like a great
> On KBoards can you create an author page before your book is officially published on Amazon? I would love to create a page for my book prior to self-publishing to get the marketing ball rolling..


Hi there JC and welcome to Kboards! Yes, you've stumbled upon the best little place on the internet for indies imo. 
Good luck and I look forward to hearing more about your journey as you go.
I think you can create an author page, but you won't have the links to put on it. I waited until I was published. But I dunno. 
Oh holy crap there's a book page. I didn't even know about that.

Look at you, brand new here and already teaching us things. :3 Me at least. But I'm a derp.

Thanks!
*runs off to add book pages!*


----------



## Small Town Writer

I just published my first book on August 1st. I put it up for preorder in May and got 10 preorders. Come release day, I only got one preorder cancellation, so I sold 9 copies. I posted it on my personal Facebook and sold 4 more copies. Sales trickled off pretty fast after that. I sold 7 copies sporadically over the next two weeks until this past Saturday when I was featured in the newspaper. That resulted in five more sales and two newsletter sign-ups. 

I'm putting out a holiday short story in November and already have it up for preorder. Right now I only sold one preorder...to my best friend, so that doesn't really count haha. I'm hoping once summer is over that sales will pick up for both titles, but until that happens I'm plugging away at next year's releases.

Baby steps, right?


----------



## Overrated

Shei Darksbane said:


> Self-publishing, if you intend to make money, is definitely a business.
> Having a business plan is probably only useful for those who studied business enough to know how to use one.
> I didn't have a formalized business plan. But I do have a todo list. I use Todoist and I would go nuts without it.
> Know when I plan to release the next book is pretty vital to having it finished in time. If I don't know the release date, how can I know how big my daily word goal needs to be?
> How can I set a date by which to complete the covers? The formatting?
> So yeah, I do have a plan. I just put it into Todoist, schedule myself, and keep going.
> 
> Life will always implode around you if you let it.  Life has imploded around me this whole way and I've repeatedly had to turn to it and shout "Settle down now, or I'm turning this thing around."
> In general, Life will settle down if you show it who's boss.
> (Sometimes things are unavoidable, but I found that prioritizing my writing above basically everything else was the only way to keep life from winning that game. It's been rough, but I think we've come to an understanding now.)
> Just don't be afraid. Life happens to all of us. You can still do this!


I have to thank you, because after reading this, I checked out Todoist, and it is naggingly fantastic. I didn't finish everything yesterday, and it popped up and reminded me, which made me say, "Oh yeah," and check off those last two items.

I will probably love/hate it, but I like that it keeps after you.


----------



## Shei Darksbane

Lisa Manifold said:


> I have to thank you, because after reading this, I checked out Todoist, and it is naggingly fantastic. I didn't finish everything yesterday, and it popped up and reminded me, which made me say, "Oh yeah," and check off those last two items.
> 
> I will probably love/hate it, but I like that it keeps after you.


Glad to be of help! 
I plan to get premium next month so I can set reminders.


----------



## Ed M.

I'm wrapping up my first week since publishing, and so far I've sold 44 copies and have about 2,000 pages read according to Book Report. Some big bumps on days when I emailed to friends and family, but those tapered off quickly so I'm very inconsistent from day to day. It looks like I've cracked the top 100 in some pretty big categories (mystery>historical, thriller>assassinations) but I'm not sure how that will translate to exposure/sales. We'll see.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ed M. said:


> I'm wrapping up my first week since publishing, and so far I've sold 44 copies and have about 2,000 pages read


Cool, I'd be very happy to get those numbers my first week when I publish.


----------



## Guest

Antara Man said:


> Bookmarked and following; how do I update some of my signature's covers? I private messaged one of the admins but he never replied me.


Just go back through the Author Signature tool again. It will update to the whatever covers are on Amazon at the time.


----------



## J.C.Thomas

Thanks for your encouragement. I'll be sure to keep reading this forum and figuring out how it works. Definitely seems like a great place for learning about the self-publishing process and lots more! JC x


----------



## Guest

Ed M. said:


> I'm wrapping up my first week since publishing, and so far I've sold 44 copies and have about 2,000 pages read according to Book Report. Some big bumps on days when I emailed to friends and family, but those tapered off quickly so I'm very inconsistent from day to day. It looks like I've cracked the top 100 in some pretty big categories (mystery>historical, thriller>assassinations) but I'm not sure how that will translate to exposure/sales. We'll see.


That's so awesome!!!


----------



## Adair Hart

Ed M. said:


> I'm wrapping up my first week since publishing, and so far I've sold 44 copies and have about 2,000 pages read according to Book Report. Some big bumps on days when I emailed to friends and family, but those tapered off quickly so I'm very inconsistent from day to day. It looks like I've cracked the top 100 in some pretty big categories (mystery>historical, thriller>assassinations) but I'm not sure how that will translate to exposure/sales. We'll see.


Congratulations Ed!

What does everyone think is the average sales (in terms of books sold) for the first month at launch with minimal advertising for a new author? Or what would be considered decent? I know we have some like Shei knocking it out of the park but am tempering my expectations on my upcoming launch.


----------



## writerbee

Well, I have no idea if it was average or low (or high!) but I do know I was thrilled with every sale, each one seemed like a miracle (beyond my dozen or so friends 'n' family who bought it ;-)]
I sold 60 in the first month, and there were almost 3x as many borrows. 
It's a serial, though, so that's different ... I released Part 1 on March 23rd and then Part 2 on April 1st and Part 3 almost exactly 1 month after Part 1, on April 22nd. 
Things really took off after I released Part 4, so maybe 4 times a charm 

DMac


----------



## Guest

writerbee said:


> Things really took off after I released Part 4, so maybe 4 times a charm


Great! We'll see what happens with mine. Book 3 out on Sept. 7


----------



## Cxxxxxxx

I'm suspecting I was on the low side, and did almost no marketing, aside from letting my few blog, Facebook and Twitter followers know. I released June 30 and by the end of July had sold 29 ebooks, about 4k pages read and 13 print copies. I'm pretty sure I'll never sell so much print again because I'm certain all of those were family and friends who don't do ebooks. Especially now that I've switched to ordering author copies for my mom who gives them to all of her friends, "signed by the author's mother." 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Adair Hart

writerbee said:


> Well, I have no idea if it was average or low (or high!) but I do know I was thrilled with every sale, each one seemed like a miracle (beyond my dozen or so friends 'n' family who bought it ;-)]
> I sold 60 in the first month, and there were almost 3x as many borrows.
> It's a serial, though, so that's different ... I released Part 1 on March 23rd and then Part 2 on April 1st and Part 3 almost exactly 1 month after Part 1, on April 22nd.
> Things really took off after I released Part 4, so maybe 4 times a charm
> 
> DMac


Good luck on your fourth! Sixty seems massive to me.



Jolie du Pre said:


> Great! We'll see what happens with mine. Book 3 out on Sept. 7


12 days away! Good Luck Jolie! 



christinick said:


> I'm suspecting I was on the low side, and did almost no marketing, aside from letting my few blog, Facebook and Twitter followers know. I released June 30 and by the end of July had sold 29 ebooks, about 4k pages read and 13 print copies. I'm pretty sure I'll never sell so much print again because I'm certain all of those were family and friends who don't do ebooks. Especially now that I've switched to ordering author copies for my mom who gives them to all of her friends, "signed by the author's mother."


Interesting observation on the print copies. I have heard of the "Friends and Family" bump and suspect I may have that as well. Your mom sounds very supportive of you!

I am getting the sense that 20-30 seems to be normal. I did see two other threads where a first year of books sold was outlined with some notes:

Danpadavona - http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,221162.0.html
JACipriano - http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,221100.0.html

and they seem to fit into the 20-30 range as well for the first month. I think I will set my expectation for 25. Just need to wrap up all these dangling peices!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Morning, fellow noobs! I had a great phone call with a tax attorney last night and got some information straight about business structure and organization, so I'm spending part of today and tomorrow filing paperwork. Also finalizing the first episode in a novella series, which will go to the editor tomorrow afternoon. Also researching cover artists. Lots to do!

How go your efforts?


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Morning, fellow noobs! I had a great phone call with a tax attorney last night and got some information straight about business structure and organization, so I'm spending part of today and tomorrow filing paperwork. Also finalizing the first episode in a novella series, which will go to the editor tomorrow afternoon. Also researching cover artists. Lots to do!
> 
> How go your efforts?


Well, I learned a lesson this week that I thought I would pass on.

Promo'ing pre-orders on the first book of a series on sites like BKNights and AwesomeGang is a big ol' bust. I had zero downloads. It's a book under a pen name I am launching that I am using primarily to experiment and learn lessons so I'm not too upset. It taught me something. Also, I would just like to commend BKNights for the best customer service ever. I guess somehow he could tell on his end that no one had clicked on it or downloaded it because he refunded my money without me even asking. He totally didn't have to do that.

So my take away...

Preorders are a bad idea for a first book, especially when it's under a pen name with zero audience.
Promo-ing preorders is also tough in that situation.

I know some others have had luck with both of those things. So I am only speaking from my POV. For every rule there's an exception. I just wasn't the exception, darn it.


----------



## Paul_Stephenson

Excellent thread, shame I just lost an hour of my life! I was really hoping to make the Class of 2015, but I'm getting married next month and our budget overran, so I've had to push back paying for an editor into next year. Still, I'm very excited, and have a big launch year planned, with four titles (three in an apocalyptic horror series and a standalone non-fiction comedy book) launching starting in March.

I've been lurking around here, asking questions, taking advice, devouring podcasts, reading books and blogs, and so far I've got the website all set up, designed my own covers in Canva (yes I'd love to get a pro design but you heard what I said about the wedding before, right?) and am at various stages with each book. I love Kboards, and I'm really hoping next year is a big one.

One thing I am a bit torn on currently is going into KU. I had always planned to go wide (I'm somewhat against putting all my eggs in one basket) but recent changes to KU and tales of people with full novels getting great payouts is wavering my thoughts somewhat. I guess I'll watch what happens between now and March.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Congrats on the upcoming nuptials, Paul!


----------



## Paul_Stephenson

Cheers Jim. You scared me then though, we're getting married in September. I thought this thread had taken me a month to read and I'd missed it!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Paul_Stephenson said:


> Cheers Jim. You scared me then though, we're getting married in September. I thought this thread had taken me a month to read and I'd missed it!


Oh snap. I thought we were in September already. lol My brain's full of business paperwork and impending parenthood and writing and editing.

It IS still 2015 right?


----------



## Paul_Stephenson

Jim Johnson said:


> It IS still 2015 right?


As far as I'm aware, yes


----------



## Guest

Paul_Stephenson said:


> Excellent thread, shame I just lost an hour of my life! I was really hoping to make the Class of 2015, but I'm getting married next month and our budget overran, so I've had to push back paying for an editor into next year. Still, I'm very excited, and have a big launch year planned, with four titles (three in an apocalyptic horror series and a standalone non-fiction comedy book) launching starting in March.
> 
> I've been lurking around here, asking questions, taking advice, devouring podcasts, reading books and blogs, and so far I've got the website all set up, designed my own covers in Canva (yes I'd love to get a pro design but you heard what I said about the wedding before, right?) and am at various stages with each book. I love Kboards, and I'm really hoping next year is a big one.
> 
> One thing I am a bit torn on currently is going into KU. I had always planned to go wide (I'm somewhat against putting all my eggs in one basket) but recent changes to KU and tales of people with full novels getting great payouts is wavering my thoughts somewhat. I guess I'll watch what happens between now and March.


Congrats on getting married! And I LOVE Canva. I think it can actually make very professional covers, I play on it daily experimenting. All my romance covers under my pen name were made with Canva and (if I do say so myself) are pretty good.

As for KU the great thing about it is that you're only married (no pun intended) to it for 3 months. I think for new authors, it's a great idea to try. I went wide for a month with my paranormal serial. Now, I know that's definitely not enough time to figure out what was possible but I made 3 dollars. I put my serial in KU and I made 200 bucks this month. So I think it also depends what you're motivated by. Right now it makes more sense for me. Once my books have been out a while I will consider making them wide. I will say that D2D is super user friendly. I love that site.


----------



## Guest

I wanted to add, for n00bs that are experimenting with covers: BigStockPhoto and DepositPhotos offer trial memberships. 5 images a day for 7 days. You can download some quality photos and use them in Canva or Gimp. Or it also helps you when hiring a graphic designer that you already have the photos. Also, if you decide to keep the membership, it's worth it. I did BigStock for a month and now have enough photos to last me a very very long time.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Paul_Stephenson said:


> One thing I am a bit torn on currently is going into KU. I had always planned to go wide (I'm somewhat against putting all my eggs in one basket) but recent changes to KU and tales of people with full novels getting great payouts is wavering my thoughts somewhat. I guess I'll watch what happens between now and March.


My current plan is to put stuff in KU to start with, for one term, to try and get some early visibility, then pull out and go wide to try and get some traction elsewhere as soon as possible. We'll see if I actually stick to that...!


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

Paul_Stephenson said:


> Excellent thread, shame I just lost an hour of my life! I was really hoping to make the Class of 2015, but I'm getting married next month and our budget overran, so I've had to push back paying for an editor into next year. Still, I'm very excited, and have a big launch year planned, with four titles (three in an apocalyptic horror series and a standalone non-fiction comedy book) launching starting in March.
> 
> I've been lurking around here, asking questions, taking advice, devouring podcasts, reading books and blogs, and so far I've got the website all set up, designed my own covers in Canva (yes I'd love to get a pro design but you heard what I said about the wedding before, right?) and am at various stages with each book. I love Kboards, and I'm really hoping next year is a big one.
> 
> One thing I am a bit torn on currently is going into KU. I had always planned to go wide (I'm somewhat against putting all my eggs in one basket) but recent changes to KU and tales of people with full novels getting great payouts is wavering my thoughts somewhat. I guess I'll watch what happens between now and March.


Congrats on the upcoming nuptials!

Re: KU--I, too, am against putting all of my eggs in one basket (I'm a big believer in portfolio diversification) so I decided from the get-go to go wide. It's such a personal decision, though, and to each their own. And who knows how much things will change between now and when you launch in March.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Jim Johnson said:


> Morning, fellow noobs! I had a great phone call with a tax attorney last night and got some information straight about business structure and organization, so I'm spending part of today and tomorrow filing paperwork. Also finalizing the first episode in a novella series, which will go to the editor tomorrow afternoon. Also researching cover artists. Lots to do!
> 
> How go your efforts?


Sounds fun!

So I've been working on my publishing schedule for next year. Would love to get your thoughts. What are you guys thinking for next year?

The plan is to release something every month. Unfortunately I don't have the time or budget to write a novel a month, so I'm interspersing the longer works with short stories.

3 Novels (trilogy)
3 Novellas (serialised)
6 Short Stories.

I've already written the 1st Novel and am part way through the second.

2016

January -- Novel 80k

February -- Short story 6000 words.

March -- Novel 2 80k

April -- Short story 6000 words.

May -- Short story 6000 words.

June -- Novel 3 -- 80k

July -- Short story 6000 words.

August -- Novella Book 1 25-30k

September -- Novella Book 2 25-30k

October -- Short Story 6000 words

November -- Short Story 6000 words.

December -- Novella Book 3 25-30k & 1 x Short Story Collection


----------



## Jim Johnson

Lukeofkondor said:


> The plan is to release something every month. Unfortunately I don't have the time or budget to write a novel a month, so I'm interspersing the longer works with short stories.


Looks like a great schedule. Best wishes achieving and exceeding it!

My goal is to also have monthly releases. I write fast, though, so I'll be trying to release a 30-35k word novella in one series every month (plus a pre-order for the next book in the series) and up to two 10-15k word episodes in a separate series in the same month, plus however many short stories I can release as well.

I'm sitting on a backlog of about 25 titles of various lengths and stages of completion, so it'll be a matter of finding time to complete them, edit them, get covers for them, and then release them around the regular release schedules for the other series. Busy times but fun!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Jim Johnson said:


> I'm sitting on a backlog of about 25 titles of various lengths and stages of completion, so it'll be a matter of finding time to complete them, edit them, get covers for them, and then release them around the regular release schedules for the other series. Busy times but fun!


Wow 25?

That sounds like quite a back catalogue when they're all up.


----------



## Jim Johnson

That's my hope!   I was a writing fiend earlier in the year, and then got busy with non-writing stuff over the summer. Back at it, though!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Jim Johnson said:


> That's my hope!  I was a writing fiend earlier in the year, and then got busy with non-writing stuff over the summer. Back at it, though!


Seriously if you were to edit and release a novel a month you'd be sorted for 2 years!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Lukeofkondor said:


> Sounds fun!
> 
> So I've been working on my publishing schedule for next year. Would love to get your thoughts. What are you guys thinking for next year?
> 
> The plan is to release something every month.


Cool, I won't be able to quite manage that, but I have several things in the works for over the next year. In my first year of publishing, I should have/hope to have six novels out (3 are for kids, so only 30,000-ish words), and three or four 12,000 word novelette's. Oh, the novels are in two series, three books in each, and I plan to also put out an omnibus edition for each series compiling the three books into one. So I suppose that's another two books there, in a way.


----------



## Guest

Hey guys and gals! Love seeing the writing schedules.  

I've changed mine. Sales for my serial is slow, and although it may pick up after I've released the remaining episodes, I've already decided to return to novellas. So I'll finish up this serial season one, and then move on to novellas, the length I was writing when I first started self-publishing.

My new writing schedule through February 2016 is:

September

Episode 3 7-Sep

Episode 4 21-Sep

October

Episode 5 5-Oct

Free Story for Mailing List Subscribers 
- Complete the story
- Get a landing page, etc. set-up

November

Combine Episodes 1 - 5 into Novella Pierce 1

December

(Liliana Nirvana Technique)

Novella Pierce 2 1-Dec (25,000 - 30,000)

Novella Pierce 3 1-Dec

Novella Pierce 4 1-Dec

Novella Pierce 5 1-Dec

Novella Pierce 6 1-Dec

January

Novella Pierce 7 4-Jan

Novella Pierce 8 18-Jan

February

Novella Pierce 9 1-Feb

Novella Pierce 10 15-Feb


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> I'm sitting on a backlog of about 25 titles


Yowzers. And I thought I was being patient by collecting together the number of titles I have before finally hitting publish...!


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> I'm sitting on a backlog of about 25 titles of various lengths and stages of completion, so it'll be a matter of finding time to complete them, edit them, get covers for them, and then release them around the regular release schedules for the other series. Busy times but fun!


Yowzas!  You are going to be one busy person. Good luck man!

My schedule is tiny compared to some of the others:

Sep 2015- Book 1 (46k)
Nov 2015 - Book 2 (60-70k)
Mar 2016- Book 3 (60-70k)
Jul 2016 - Book 4 (60-70k)
Nov 2016 -Book 5 (60-70k)

I want to do a smaller novella series (25k) connected to my main one starting next year as well, not sure where it will fit in yet. Love seeing the ambition from everyone!


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

My schedule's really small compared to some of y'all.

Late October - 3rd book in Devils Ranch Series
January - 4th book in Devils Ranch Series
April - 1st novel in new series
July - 2nd novel in new series
October - 3rd novel in new series

I'm basically trying to release a book every three months. If I can release faster, I will. I also have two novellas that I'd previously had with a publisher (rights have reverted back to me) that I'm planning on releasing at some point next year. One of them probably mid-spring/early summer, and the other late fall since it's a Christmas story. I would put that one out this year except contractually I can't release it til next year. 

I'm also planning on making a box set out of my Devils Ranch Series before I release Book 1 in my next series, so there's that, too. The next series is a spin-off, so there will be some interconnected characters, which I'm hoping will help lead to sales.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Newbie lesson--don't forget to stop and appreciate the process (stop and smell the roses).

I finished edits on book one of my weird western series and am about to email it to my editor. In the meantime, I made a mobi version of it so that I could stick it on my Kindle and have it read to me to catch any weird errors. Seeing the title and author name on the Kindle along with other books and stuff is just so cool. It's like the modern version of holding a print copy of your book in your hand.










A tiny little thing, but hey...experience joy where you can get it, right?


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Newbie lesson--don't forget to stop and appreciate the process (stop and smell the roses).
> 
> I finished edits on book one of my weird western series and am about to email it to my editor. In the meantime, I made a mobi version of it so that I could stick it on my Kindle and have it read to me to catch any weird errors. Seeing the title and author name on the Kindle along with other books and stuff is just so cool. It's like the modern version of holding a print copy of your book in your hand.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A tiny little thing, but hey...experience joy where you can get it, right?


It's definitely cool. I used to do that on my Kindle Fire before my first was published. Seeing the cover in my carousel made me happy.

Very tough week for this n00b. But trying to stay positive! I have last finishing touches to make on my newest book that I am publishing on Tuesday if all works out okay! At the stage where I absolutely hate the book and am so ready to be done! But at the same time... I love the book. Such a weird relationship we have with our work.

My schedule is super super ambitious until January.

Sept: Hell's Belles 4 AND 5. Published on the same day. Going to try something new.
Publishing a racy romance under a new pen name on September 29th. So wish I hadn't done pre-order for it. That's been a bust.
Oct: Hell's Belles 6 and 7. Published on same day. Also, publishing Hell's Belles 1-5 box set on the same day.
Book 1 of a New Adult series.
Nov: Hell's Belles 8 and 9. (Yep. Same day) 
Book 2 of my pen name romance series
Book 3 in my Contemp YA series
Dec: Final Hell's Belles book. It will be novel length instead of novella.
Book 2 in New Adult Series

I will also have 4 new audio books out by mid-December. This momma needs to pick up the pace and the only way it happens is if I put more out there. I'm sure by January I will need a long break. (Like... At least 4 days off from writing)


----------



## Guest

Good luck to everyone!


----------



## dmaxwell

BelleAC said:


> It's definitely cool. I used to do that on my Kindle Fire before my first was published. Seeing the cover in my carousel made me happy.
> 
> Very tough week for this n00b. But trying to stay positive! I have last finishing touches to make on my newest book that I am publishing on Tuesday if all works out okay! At the stage where I absolutely hate the book and am so ready to be done! But at the same time... I love the book. Such a weird relationship we have with our work.
> 
> My schedule is super super ambitious until January.
> 
> Sept: Hell's Belles 4 AND 5. Published on the same day. Going to try something new.
> Publishing a racy romance under a new pen name on September 29th. So wish I hadn't done pre-order for it. That's been a bust.
> Oct: Hell's Belles 6 and 7. Published on same day. Also, publishing Hell's Belles 1-5 box set on the same day.
> Book 1 of a New Adult series.
> Nov: Hell's Belles 8 and 9. (Yep. Same day)
> Book 2 of my pen name romance series
> Book 3 in my Contemp YA series
> Dec: Final Hell's Belles book. It will be novel length instead of novella.
> Book 2 in New Adult Series
> 
> I will also have 4 new audio books out by mid-December. This momma needs to pick up the pace and the only way it happens is if I put more out there. I'm sure by January I will need a long break. (Like... At least 4 days off from writing)


What gives you the ability to set this type of schedule? (I'm exhausted just looking at your plan!) Do you have all these books mapped out well enough that you have a fairly good idea of the work required to create them? I think this is what I'm lacking right now, the ability to set a publication schedule and know not just what I want to publish but how it will happen and when.


----------



## banana

Wow, this thread is super fantastic. And there are new badges!

I do have a newb question though. How do you all do your formatting/converting? Do you outsource it or use a program?


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Hey guys! Newb (& lurker) here too. *waves*

I don't have a production / release schedule yet, especially since I'm only just now starting to be able to KNOW how much time & effort I need to complete a book. But I'm getting there with a vengeance!

Right now I'm writing book #2 in my debut trilogy, and I'm super excited just being able to write consistently (~3K every weekday). If I finish drafting+editing this fall, I will be ECSTATIC! Figuring out a way to be consistently productive is the most important prerequisite to being an author (after writing good books, obviously).

Thanks for this thread. It made me little forum-phobic scribbler de-lurk, which says something.


----------



## Guest

catattack said:


> Wow, this thread is super fantastic. And there are new badges!
> 
> I do have a newb question though. How do you all do your formatting/converting? Do you outsource it or use a program?


I use Vellum now, but that's just for MAC users.

https://180g.co/vellum/


----------



## Adair Hart

catattack said:


> Wow, this thread is super fantastic. And there are new badges!
> 
> I do have a newb question though. How do you all do your formatting/converting? Do you outsource it or use a program?


I use Guido Henkels "Zen of ebook Formatting"

http://www.amazon.com/Zen-eBook-Formatting-Step-step-ebook/dp/B00KJAH4HS

You go from a word document to a html formatted document, then load it into calibre to generate your epub file. I like the fact that you can view it in your browser at the html stage while your working on it and can control the cleanliness of your html/css. I then use Sigil if there are any issues. I then use the kindle previewer to generate your mobi. although you can use the command line interface (CLI) for kindlegen. I then use the epubcheck CLI to check it.

For print, I hire for that. I sent my word document to Colleen to do mine at Write, Dream, Repeat. She did an awesome job.


----------



## Guest

dmaxwell said:


> What gives you the ability to set this type of schedule? (I'm exhausted just looking at your plan!) Do you have all these books mapped out well enough that you have a fairly good idea of the work required to create them? I think this is what I'm lacking right now, the ability to set a publication schedule and know not just what I want to publish but how it will happen and when.


I write about 6k a day. And the Hell's Belles books are novellas so two of them is about a total of 40k. Also, some of this stuff I have worked on for years and it's half way done or just needs editing/rewriting. But otherwise, I write because I have the very good fortune of toddlers that take 4 hour naps in the afternoon. (Most days) And during the week I wake up at 530 to get words in before they wake up around 730. I am hoping once I have a back list I can slow down because it's pretty tough at times.


----------



## Guest

catattack said:


> Wow, this thread is super fantastic. And there are new badges!
> 
> I do have a newb question though. How do you all do your formatting/converting? Do you outsource it or use a program?


I do my own ebook formatting. Guido Henkel's book helped me learn but my formatting is very basic with no frills. I am hoping to pay a formatter in the near future to format fancy chapter headings and such.

For print I hire it out to a woman on fiverr who does an entire novel for about 30 bucks. She should charge more, she's quite good.


----------



## Guest

VeronicaSicoe said:


> Hey guys! Newb (& lurker) here too. *waves*
> 
> I don't have a production / release schedule yet, especially since I'm only just now starting to be able to KNOW how much time & effort I need to complete a book. But I'm getting there with a vengeance!
> 
> Right now I'm writing book #2 in my debut trilogy, and I'm super excited just being able to write consistently (~3K every weekday). If I finish drafting+editing this fall, I will be ECSTATIC! Figuring out a way to be consistently productive is the most important prerequisite to being an author (after writing good books, obviously).
> 
> Thanks for this thread. It made me little forum-phobic scribbler de-lurk, which says something.


Welcome!! It sounds like you're on the right track!


----------



## Guest

Going to have to check out Guido's guide because like a dork I didn't take notes the last time I did formatting and I can not remember how I did the Kindle one LOL



catattack said:


> I do have a newb question though. How do you all do your formatting/converting? Do you outsource it or use a program?


For Aisuru, I used Word for my formatting, including both print versions and the initial eBook formats. I used Calibre (free) to do the conversion to eBook. I also used Dreamweaver to help fix the HTML code as well.


----------



## writerbee

I just do all the formatting myself. I studied various programs, and took helpful webinars, and got myself all tangled up in it. So at a friend's recommendation, I just did the basics -- I don't "nuke" but I strip the Word doc of page numbers, headers, and codes; remove all tabs; set 1st line indent at .03 for the entire document. Then I go through and use Word Styles for the chapters, front and back matter pages, and scene separators [e.g. *** ]

And it's worked, so far. The version I upload to Amazon has all the italics and bold, and it looks fine. 
Maybe when I decide to get fancy I'll use one of the programs but for now they just made things too complicated for me ;-p

DMac.


----------



## Guest

writerbee said:


> I just do all the formatting myself. I studied various programs, and took helpful webinars, and got myself all tangled up in it. So at a friend's recommendation, I just did the basics -- I don't "nuke" but I strip the Word doc of page numbers, headers, and codes; remove all tabs; set 1st line indent at .03 for the entire document. Then I go through and use Word Styles for the chapters, front and back matter pages, and scene separators [e.g. *** ]
> 
> And it's worked, so far. The version I upload to Amazon has all the italics and bold, and it looks fine.
> Maybe when I decide to get fancy I'll use one of the programs but for now they just made things too complicated for me ;-p
> 
> DMac.


Yep. This is basically how I do it too. I have a styles template I use in Word. When I am done I save as a web page unfiltered and upload it to KDP. I check it on every device in Kindle previewer and that's it. Very basic but gets the job done.


----------



## Overrated

After struggling with uploading my first book onto Amazon, I went to Amazon to see if they'd published any sort of guide. Amazingly, I had already downloaded it. I went through it for the next two that needed uploading, and it decreased my spinning wheels and frustration. This was the book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007URVZJ6?redirect=true&ref_=kinw_myk_ro_title

I'm also working my way through Guido Henkel's guide.

I still hate Createspace. It's easy, but it's not. Probably just me and my formatting difficulties.


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

catattack said:


> Wow, this thread is super fantastic. And there are new badges!
> 
> I do have a newb question though. How do you all do your formatting/converting? Do you outsource it or use a program?


I use Scrivener for formatting. It's a bit tricky at first but super easy once you get the hang of it.


----------



## banana

Lisa Manifold said:


> After struggling with uploading my first book onto Amazon, I went to Amazon to see if they'd published any sort of guide. Amazingly, I had already downloaded it. I went through it for the next two that needed uploading, and it decreased my spinning wheels and frustration. This was the book.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007URVZJ6?redirect=true&ref_=kinw_myk_ro_title
> 
> I'm also working my way through Guido Henkel's guide.
> 
> I still hate Createspace. It's easy, but it's not. Probably just me and my formatting difficulties.





GhostGirlWriter said:


> I use Scrivener for formatting. It's a bit tricky at first but super easy once you get the hang of it.


Thank you both! I'll check out amazon's guide. I tried using scrivener's free trial and it was great but so many different features. So many buttons. I loved the save feature though.


----------



## Overrated

catattack said:


> Thank you both! I'll check out amazon's guide. I tried using scrivener's free trial and it was great but so many different features. So many buttons. I loved the save feature though.


What has really helped me with Scrivener is taking a class on it. There's so much to it, and so many little rabbit holes to fall down into while learning, I finally decided to just let someone else demonstrate the instructions to me. LOL, this is after fiddling and getting frustrated. So that would be my advice. I know there are those who can get through it and be stars, but I was not one.

There is a TON that is amazing and wonderful about Scrivener, the least of which is the Compile feature. My next work is going to be done in Scrivener, so I may change my tune, but I don't think so. See if any of the writers' groups in your area offer a class. That's where I found mine.

Apparently the software itself has some wonderful tutorials, but that didn't occur to Ms. Doesn't-Read-Directions.


----------



## elizabethsade

In theory I might be joining this thread as soon as November...we'll see. 18k into a full rewrite of what will be the first in a lesbian romance series. Mildly optimistic that it won't need too many huge re-writes. We'll see.

But if it goes well, I hope to publish it beginning-to-mid November.  And join the ranks of prawn.


----------



## writerbee

Lisa Manifold said:


> What has really helped me with Scrivener is taking a class on it. There's so much to it, and so many little rabbit holes to fall down into while learning, I finally decided to just let someone else demonstrate the instructions to me. LOL, this is after fiddling and getting frustrated. So that would be my advice. I know there are those who can get through it and be stars, but I was not one.
> 
> There is a TON that is amazing and wonderful about Scrivener, the least of which is the Compile feature. My next work is going to be done in Scrivener, so I may change my tune, but I don't think so. See if any of the writers' groups in your area offer a class. That's where I found mine.
> 
> Apparently the software itself has some wonderful tutorials, but that didn't occur to Ms. Doesn't-Read-Directions.


Gwen Hernandez and Pat Haggerty both offer excellent on-line workshops on Scrivener. Gwen does it via posts on a loop and Patrick uses live chat and screen demos. When I first got Scrivener I kind of rushed through the tutorial and got the basics, which are great, but then I kept hearing about all the nifty bells and whistles I wasn't using, so I took some different workshops. It really is an impressive program -- you can use as little or as much as you like :-D

DMac


----------



## Jena H

I'm not a newb, but I don't 'get' the talk about formatting.  I just use Word, and upload.  I've never heard of anything that I'm doing wrong or that looks bad, so I don't know what any other type of formatting would do that I'm not already doing.


----------



## Guest

Jena H said:


> I'm not a newb, but I don't 'get' the talk about formatting. I just use Word, and upload. I've never heard of anything that I'm doing wrong or that looks bad, so I don't know what any other type of formatting would do that I'm not already doing.


This is what I do as well. But I haven't learned how to do any "frills" so to speak such as chapter headings and such, something I would love to learn to make my eBooks have a little extra umph. I am super super super tech illiterate and I am guessing many others are too. I did learn it isn't as complicated as I once thought it was.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Hey everybody! Launched my short story Zero Hour a week ago to test the waters. I had little or no budget so I designed my own cover and did my own formatting in Scrivener which was a bit tricky but I got there eventually. Sales have been pretty good so far it's hit the top 4 in it's genre chart and holding steady. The only promotion I did was to my personal FB (120) and Twitter (over 1000). i tried a paid promo on FB for a few days but I don't think it really led to any extra sales. I sent a copy to some writer friends for feedback and the response was great. I think it's a good story and given what's gone on at the Hugos recently it has a lot to say about the genre and perception, in fact I changed the ending as a direct result of that.


----------



## Guest

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Hey everybody! Launched my short story Zero Hour a week ago to test the waters. I had little or no budget so I designed my own cover and did my own formatting in Scrivener which was a bit tricky but I got there eventually. Sales have been pretty good so far it's hit the top 4 in it's genre chart and holding steady. The only promotion I did was to my personal FB (120) and Twitter (over 1000). i tried a paid promo on FB for a few days but I don't think it really led to any extra sales. I sent a copy to some writer friends for feedback and the response was great. I think it's a good story and given what's gone on at the Hugos recently it has a lot to say about the genre and perception, in fact I changed the ending as a direct result of that.


That's awesome! An excellent start. I really like your cover. It sounds like you're doing something right, so keep on keepin' on. And welcome!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Hey everybody! Launched my short story Zero Hour a week ago to test the waters. I had little or no budget so I designed my own cover and did my own formatting in Scrivener which was a bit tricky but I got there eventually. Sales have been pretty good so far it's hit the top 4 in it's genre chart and holding steady. The only promotion I did was to my personal FB (120) and Twitter (over 1000). i tried a paid promo on FB for a few days but I don't think it really led to any extra sales. I sent a copy to some writer friends for feedback and the response was great. I think it's a good story and given what's gone on at the Hugos recently it has a lot to say about the genre and perception, in fact I changed the ending as a direct result of that.


Awesome work. How did you get the Huge Howsters to give you that quote? That's crazy cool.

What are you working on now?


----------



## SaraD

Hey Eamon - that's awesome! I was just about to ask the same as Luke. That's a cool quote - I bet that would sell many people who see it on giving the story a chance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Guest

And so many reviews, Eamon! WOW!


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## Eamon Ambrose

Thanks everybody! To be honest, Wool was one of the books that made me decide to be a writer. I've been a book reviewer for a few years and been a big fan of Hugh's and of his adventures in self-publishing. Just from keeping in touch on Facebook really. I took a chance and sent him a copy before I launched it. I was still very nervous about it and I knew if anyone would be straight about it he would. Thankfully he took the time to read it, and he loved it. I was blown away and he kindly agreed to blurb it. It wasn't even something I had considered until the last minute, and it would have been silly not to use it, but it wasn't planned. 
The response to Zero Hour has been great, with an awful lot of people wanting to know what happens next. Truth is, I hadn't thought about it! I may have to now, this may become a serial.  
I'm working on a novel for Wonderment's Apocalypse Weird series hopefully out next year and another novel of my own, a sort of modern gothic tale I hope to turn into a series.


----------



## Guest

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Thanks everybody! To be honest, Wool was one of the books that made me decide to be a writer. I've been a book reviewer for a few years and been a big fan of Hugh's and of his adventures in self-publishing. Just from keeping in touch on Facebook really. I took a chance and sent him a copy before I launched it. I was still very nervous about it and I knew if anyone would be straight about it he would. Thankfully he took the time to read it, and he loved it. I was blown away and he kindly agreed to blurb it. It wasn't even something I had considered until the last minute, but it would have been silly not to use it, but it wasn't planned.
> The response to Zero Hour has been great, with an awful lot of people wanting to know what happens next. Truth is, I hadn't thought about it! I may have to now, this may become a serial.
> I'm working in a novel for Wonderment's Apocalypse Weird series hopefully out next year and another novel of my own, a sort of modern gothic tale I hope to turn into a series.


That is so fantastic. And Wool was a huge influence on me, as well. I don't write in the same genre or even read that particular genre but the fact that WOOL was still a book that resonated with me says a lot about Hugh as a writer. I am such a fan of his so if he loved your work that says SO MUCH.

But it also says so much about you that you've written a story that has already made the kind of impact that is making readers want more. I would definitely think about turning it into a serial. You never know, it could be the beginning of your own Howey-type tale.  So cool to hear this.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Thanks everybody! To be honest, Wool was one of the books that made me decide to be a writer. I've been a book reviewer for a few years and been a big fan of Hugh's and of his adventures in self-publishing. Just from keeping in touch on Facebook really. I took a chance and sent him a copy before I launched it. I was still very nervous about it and I knew if anyone would be straight about it he would. Thankfully he took the time to read it, and he loved it. I was blown away and he kindly agreed to blurb it. It wasn't even something I had considered until the last minute, but it would have been silly not to use it, but it wasn't planned.
> The response to Zero Hour has been great, with an awful lot of people wanting to know what happens next. Truth is, I hadn't thought about it! I may have to now, this may become a serial.
> I'm working in a novel for Wonderment's Apocalypse Weird series hopefully out next year and another novel of my own, a sort of modern gothic tale I hope to turn into a series.


Ah I love Apocolypse Weird. It sounds like you're off to a cracking start!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Thanks everybody! To be honest, Wool was one of the books that made me decide to be a writer. I've been a book reviewer for a few years and been a big fan of Hugh's and of his adventures in self-publishing. Just from keeping in touch on Facebook really. I took a chance and sent him a copy before I launched it. I was still very nervous about it and I knew if anyone would be straight about it he would. Thankfully he took the time to read it, and he loved it. I was blown away and he kindly agreed to blurb it. It wasn't even something I had considered until the last minute, but it would have been silly not to use it, but it wasn't planned.
> The response to Zero Hour has been great, with an awful lot of people wanting to know what happens next. Truth is, I hadn't thought about it! I may have to now, this may become a serial.
> I'm working in a novel for Wonderment's Apocalypse Weird series hopefully out next year and another novel of my own, a sort of modern gothic tale I hope to turn into a series.


Very cool to get a nod from Howey! And it's worked on me, just picked up a copy because of it.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Lukeofkondor said:


> Ah I love Apocolypse Weird. It sounds like you're off to a cracking start!


Thanks. Again it's something I'm a huge fan of so to be given a chance to write in it was amazing. Every single book in the series so far has been brilliant.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Matthew Stott said:


> Very cool to get a nod from Howey! And it's worked on me, just picked up a copy because of it.


Thanks Matthew  - love your covers by the way. Hold on to that designer!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Thanks Matthew  - love your covers by the way. Hold on to that designer!


Thanks! Yeah, I got lucky there. People are going to be sorely disappointed when they move past the covers and get to my bit.


----------



## Guest

Hey guys! I've been writing in the car all day, headed back to our summer home in Canada. Congrats to everyone! I've enjoyed reading this. There's nothing quite like a newbie thread. No clutter from oldies bragging about themselves while telling you that you suck and that you need to improve. LOL!


----------



## Adair Hart

elizabethsade said:


> In theory I might be joining this thread as soon as November...we'll see. 18k into a full rewrite of what will be the first in a lesbian romance series. Mildly optimistic that it won't need too many huge re-writes. We'll see.
> 
> But if it goes well, I hope to publish it beginning-to-mid November.  And join the ranks of prawn.


Keep at it Elizabeth! We are the food the prawns feed on until we publish and transform into prawns ourselves with shiny badges 



Eamon Ambrose said:


> Thanks everybody! To be honest, Wool was one of the books that made me decide to be a writer. I've been a book reviewer for a few years and been a big fan of Hugh's and of his adventures in self-publishing. Just from keeping in touch on Facebook really. I took a chance and sent him a copy before I launched it. I was still very nervous about it and I knew if anyone would be straight about it he would. Thankfully he took the time to read it, and he loved it. I was blown away and he kindly agreed to blurb it. It wasn't even something I had considered until the last minute, and it would have been silly not to use it, but it wasn't planned.
> The response to Zero Hour has been great, with an awful lot of people wanting to know what happens next. Truth is, I hadn't thought about it! I may have to now, this may become a serial.
> I'm working on a novel for Wonderment's Apocalypse Weird series hopefully out next year and another novel of my own, a sort of modern gothic tale I hope to turn into a series.


Congratulations Eamon! I read your look inside and it looks good. I will pick it up and give it a read tonight. Good luck on your future series!


----------



## Adair Hart

Jena H said:


> I'm not a newb, but I don't 'get' the talk about formatting. I just use Word, and upload. I've never heard of anything that I'm doing wrong or that looks bad, so I don't know what any other type of formatting would do that I'm not already doing.


I know when I was beginning to learn about how to format, there was a dizzying array of methods to do it. Word, Scrivener, Calibre, HTML,etc.

I was originally going to use word, then tried scrivener, then picked up Guido Henkel's book. He addresses using word procesors in a section called "Why you should not use a word processor" in his "The Road to Right" chapter. He touches on the use of styles, but focuses more on how different devices handle features. I think ultimately that if the reader doesn't care and if the process for formatting works for you, then not that big of a deal.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Adair Hart said:


> Keep at it Elizabeth! We are the food the prawns feed on until we publish and transform into prawns ourselves with shiny badges
> 
> Congratulations Eamon! I read your look inside and it looks good. I will pick it up and give it a read tonight. Good luck on your future series!


Much appreciated - thank you!


----------



## Joe M

AubreyGross said:


> I know it seems like that, but there are several of us finding success without writing stepbrother billionaire werewolf shifter romances. ;-) Sure, I write contemporary romance, which has genre conventions, but I'm not writing in a particularly "hot" subgenre. And my latest release? It's a mashup of humorous women's fiction and romance, heavy on the heroine's journey but with a happily ever after, and it's doing pretty well.
> 
> So write what you want to write. This business is so incredibly fluid, and what's hot today probably won't be hot three months from now. And if you're writing books YOU want to read, odds are you're not the only one who wants to read those types of books.


Not sure how I missed this but just wanted to say thanks for the encouragement.

Sent from my LG-F410S using Tapatalk


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## SasgoraBooks

Hi, Newbie thread. I'm brand new to Kboards, and I'm exactly one month in on the publishing of my first short story. I have only sold 5 copies, but I had 136 downloads during my free promo. I'm also seeing a fairly regular number of pages read through KU. The one thing that continues to frustrate me is the lack of reviews.

I initially used Scrivener for my formatting, and it does a great job, but I could not figure out what to do so that enhanced typesetting on Kindle got enable. So I decided to reformat by hand in html. That resulted in a very clean end product and I had complete control over ever aspect of the text without much fuss. I have experience with html so this was pretty easy for me and I'm just going to do this for all my future books. I'll still use Scrivener for the actual manuscripts, as its other features are fantastic.

Eamon, I really like your cover, it looks professional. I'm definitely going to give your story a read, it sounds like something I would enjoy. How on earth did you get so many reviews in a short time?


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## Guest

I just noticed Veronica's stapler icon!  Ha Ha!  I love it when people have a sense of humor at this board.


----------



## Susanne123

Morning Everyone,

September is almost here and it's one of my favourite months. I consider it more my new year than January. Guess it's the school influence of new beginnings.

Anyway, I've been loving this thread (and yes, Jolie, the stapler is too cute!). I've read people's comments about business plans, and I've looked at the schedules posted, and realized I really need to focus if I want to get to published. Some bad habits have slipped in. Like, the amount of time I spend on KBoards (do the posts have to be so interesting?), and how I'm not writing first thing in the morning. 

Tomorrow I start my new regime. I'll activate Freedom before I go to sleep so I can't go on the internet when I wake up. And I won't do any email until the evening.

Today I'll do my business plan and schedule. I'll reread Libbie's book on plotting, and take another look at Chris Fox's book because it had some good tips. Elizabeth West introduced me to Dragon software via another thread, and dictation has worked well. 

By the way, I don't know if any of you took up Rebecca Hamilton's offer of critiquing your writing style, but I did, and she was truly helpful. She posted a special of $10.00 maybe two weeks ago. I was skeptical, but managed to snag a spot on her calendar. I think her regular price is $20.00 (which is what I paid because $10.00 is so low).

This thread has increased my appreciation for the number of hats we wear while on this journey. It's exiting and exhilarating, but also confusing at times. I love the sharing. This thread is one that I won't stop reading.


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## Eamon Ambrose

DarkarNights said:


> Eamon, I really like your cover, it looks professional. I'm definitely going to give your story a read, it sounds like something I would enjoy. How on earth did you get so many reviews in a short time?


Thank you! The story seems to resonate with a lot of people for reasons I can't really say without giving away the ending, especially other writers. It has a lot to say about the perception of genre and what's been going on of late with the Hugos etc. To be honest I'm dreading the inevitable bad review. I'm sure someone at some point won't get what I was trying to achieve with it! 
The fact that it's a short story also makes it more likely to get reviewed as it's a quick read. 
Looking back I think using the blurb from Hugh was a big risk, and could have easily backfired, because if people bought it because of that and it was crap, there would have been a serious backlash. So far that hasn't happened which is encouraging!


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## Matthew Stott

About to get down to perfecting the formatting on my first book. I wrote it in Word, which is apparently daft of me. Now I've got a crap-ton of fiddles to do to make sure it works properly and looks swish. I foresee an annoying few days ahead....  

The book isn't out until October, but I've promised that my mailing list peeps can have it free before publication. Hope is that then, when I hit publish, I can go back and ask if they'd mind leaving a review.


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## Jim Johnson

Jolie du Pre said:


> I just noticed Veronica's stapler icon! Ha Ha! I love it when people have a sense of humor at this board.


I guess Veronica mostly writes at night. Mostly.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> About to get down to perfecting the formatting on my first book. I wrote it in Word, which is apparently daft of me. Now I've got a crap-ton of fiddles to do to make sure it works properly and looks swish. I foresee an annoying few days ahead....
> 
> The book isn't out until October, but I've promised that my mailing list peeps can have it free before publication. Hope is that then, when I hit publish, I can go back and ask if they'd mind leaving a review.


I upload with a Word doc so you're not daft. Did you happen to use Styles? If you did, it's not as hard as you think. If you didn't, it might be easier to open a new doc, modify your styles and input/paste the manuscript in that. Save as a web page filtered, upload to Kindle Previewer and make sure all looks okay. This is what I do. Very basic and easy.


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## Lucey Phillips

Hi everyone, another newbie here. I've been lurking for a couple months and didn't know how to jump in. This thread is great -- so much helpful advice. Congrats to everyone!

I finished my first draft today! The idea of finding an editor and getting a cover is more intimidating than I expected. I hope to have my book ready to go by the end of the month. I might try Kindle Scout. 

I start writing another novel tomorrow.  

Good luck with all your projects.


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## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> I upload with a Word doc so you're not daft. Did you happen to use Styles? If you did, it's not as hard as you think. If you didn't, it might be easier to open a new doc, modify your styles and input/paste the manuscript in that. Save as a web page filtered, upload to Kindle Previewer and make sure all looks okay. This is what I do. Very basic and easy.


Cool! Not sure if I used styles, I just opened a Word doc and started typing. I've found the formatting bits though, and I'm going through it all bit by bit. I've had a peek on the previewer and it _seems_ to be going okay so far...


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Lucey Phillips said:


> Hi everyone, another newbie here. I've been lurking for a couple months and didn't know how to jump in. This thread is great -- so much helpful advice. Congrats to everyone!
> 
> I finished my first draft today! The idea of finding an editor and getting a cover is more intimidating than I expected. I hope to have my book ready to go by the end of the month. I might try Kindle Scout.
> 
> I start writing another novel tomorrow.
> 
> Good luck with all your projects.


Welcome to the fold Lucy! An editor I can recommend is Ellen Campbell, I haven't used her services yet but I know a lot of authors who have, and I've read a lot of work she's edited.


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## Lunachick

Hi all, thought I'd stop hiding 😊  I'm determined to publish something this year, I want one of those badges!


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## Guest

Hello, it's September 1st, and I have two months to write five novellas in addition to finishing the rest of my serials. In November, my five novellas go to the editor. I'm publishing them in December. So I've got lots of work to do.  I'll check-in at the boards, but I won't be here much.

Work hard, everyone!


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## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Hello, it's September 1st, and I have two months to write five novellas in addition to finishing the rest of my serials. In November, my five novellas go to the editor. I'm publishing them in December. So I've got lots of work to do. I'll check-in at the boards, but I won't be here much.
> 
> Work hard, everyone!


I'll miss you. But I am also not going to be here much either until the holidays. Lots and lots of books to publish for those folks getting new Kindles this year.  Good luck, Jolie!


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## Bbates024

I started publishing at the end of July and released a second book in August and also have one on Kindle Scout right now. Sales have been slow but steady probably about five books a week, I did my first free promo today and moved 296 units of my first book. It also moved me to 771 in the free store and numbers 2 and 3 in my main subcategories. I can say the free sale went better than expected so far and I will probably make book one perma-free. It's a shorter work and well I'd really like to get people into book two and then book three.

I'm really hoping to get selected by Kindle scout, I think that would be a tremendous push towards finding new readers. Right now the name of the game is to find readers, the next step will be to make more money.

Things are going well I'm feeling positive and my beta readers keep telling me that everything I am writing now is better than when I started.

What's my biggest fear, that I don't have enough money set aside and that I'll be going back to work before I get the chance to do this full time. Oh well, if that happens I'll keep writing and then maybe one day I'll be doing it for a living.


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## Bbates024

Matthew Stott said:


> About to get down to perfecting the formatting on my first book. I wrote it in Word, which is apparently daft of me. Now I've got a crap-ton of fiddles to do to make sure it works properly and looks swish. I foresee an annoying few days ahead....
> 
> The book isn't out until October, but I've promised that my mailing list peeps can have it free before publication. Hope is that then, when I hit publish, I can go back and ask if they'd mind leaving a review.


I use Jutoh for formatting, it makes it simple. You just need to make sure your chapters are set as heading one and it creates a table of contents and formats everything for you. I think it'30 bucks for a lifetime membership. My editor told me that is what she uses to format clients books when they have her do it, she said save some dough and do it yourself.

Otherwise, I hear http://www.polgarusstudio.com/format-your-book/ is the place to go!


----------



## Adair Hart

Jolie du Pre said:


> Hello, it's September 1st, and I have two months to write five novellas in addition to finishing the rest of my serials. In November, my five novellas go to the editor. I'm publishing them in December. So I've got lots of work to do. I'll check-in at the boards, but I won't be here much.
> 
> Work hard, everyone!





BelleAC said:


> I'll miss you. But I am also not going to be here much either until the holidays. Lots and lots of books to publish for those folks getting new Kindles this year.  Good luck, Jolie!


You two get back here and Kboard! I kid  I wish the both of you the best of luck! Busy time for everyone it seems. 

Welcome to all the fellow Prawns joining the thread!


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## Matthew Stott

Bbates024 said:


> I use Jutoh for formatting, it makes it simple. You just need to make sure your chapters are set as heading one and it creates a table of contents and formats everything for you.


Thanks, will check it out!


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## SasgoraBooks

My freshly published collection of horror poetry is available for free today, link is in my sig.


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## Veronica Sicoe

Jolie du Pre said:


> I just noticed Veronica's stapler icon! Ha Ha! I love it when people have a sense of humor at this board.


Thanks, Jolie! 



Jim Johnson said:


> I guess Veronica mostly writes at night. Mostly.


Haha, I'd wish! Currently my nights are spent tending to my panicky toddler who thinks the Apocalypse is about to start Right.Now. No, now! Now? NOW!!!

In other newbie news, September started out pretty awesome for me. I had my first free days promo with KDP (Sept 01 > Sept 03 (today)) and so far I've had over 800 downloads, and my novel is currently #3 in Space Opera and #3 in Alien Invasion (the FREE Best Seller Lists, of course... what a brain-knocker that list title is...)

I had only hoped to reach 100 downloads, and maybe get some reviews out of them, but 800 is just mindblowing for me! I hope people like the read, and that I get some bump in sales after the promo ends.

I've submitted my novel to various FREE sites that promote free books, and haven't paid a single cent for any listing. I haven't spent anything on any kind of marketing so far. I figured it'll only be worth its bucks after the whole trilogy is out. Wouldn't want to saturate the market, as Chris Fox once mentioned...


----------



## Eva Chase

Hi all! Just saw this thread and wanted to join in.  

I'm a newbie to self publishing--my first novel, a new adult paranormal, is scheduled for Oct 13. It's the first in a series of interconnected mostly-standalones (the paranormal plot element builds off the previous books, but the romances are all self-contained), and I'm hoping to release books 2 and 3 on a three-month schedule. I already have a draft of 2 finished and am about a quarter of the way through 3, so that feels doable. I've started to think there's room for a 4th book but will have to see how 3 goes before I decide for sure. 

Right now my focus is on getting the writing done, visibility, and reviews. I booked a spot on NetGalley via a co-op, have reached out to a bunch of bloggers who reviewed similar books well, and am planning on running a GoodReads giveaway of the paperback when that's ready to increase awareness there. I decided to set the book at $0.99 for pre-orders and the first week, after which I'll raise it to $2.99; interested to see how that goes. I'll probably try for a couple of promos for that first week with the sale price but I don't want to sink much money into promotion until I have at least one more book out for sell through.

Oh, and my other focus is learning. Which is why I'm here! 

I'm in a bit of an odd situation because I've been trad publishing for several years under a different name and in a different genre, and I don't want to link this name to the other. Which has given me a little insight into marketing etc., but self pubbing is clearly a very different beast in many ways. It's also made things a little more difficult because I don't have any existing social connections to draw on as Eva Chase. That's the aspect I'm finding most daunting--I'm not great with social media in general, and the thought of trying to maintain *two* active presences is daunting.

How necessary do you think it is for a newbie self pubber to have a FB page etc.? I'm wondering if maybe I should leave it be until I actually have some readers who might like it--right now I'd put one up and have zero interest since no one knows me, heh. I'm not even sure how to go about starting from scratch with FB. I can't use a page to post as in groups and so on, right, so I'd also need to "build" my personal profile under this name?

Anyway, other than that I'm very excited just to get started. I don't have high expectations, just enjoying having total control over these books and not having to deal with the stresses of the trad pub industry with them. (Though obviously it'd be nice to make some money.   ) It's great to meet all of you!


----------



## Eva Chase

catattack said:


> I do have a newb question though. How do you all do your formatting/converting? Do you outsource it or use a program?


I taught myself using online tutorials. For my print book, I used OpenOffice (I originally tried using CreateSpace's Word template and had no end of trouble with that), which I find pretty intuitive, and for ebooks I use Jutoh (again, after originally trying to use Scrivener's compile feature and running into all kinds of issues).

I write the actual books in Word, but without any special styles or formatting, so it's pretty easy to copy and paste the content over and then fiddle with the appearance in the other apps.


----------



## Lucey Phillips

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Welcome to the fold Lucy! An editor I can recommend is Ellen Campbell, I haven't used her services yet but I know a lot of authors who have, and I've read a lot of work she's edited.


Thanks! I will check her out right now!

Your cover is awesome


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

catattack said:


> Wow, this thread is super fantastic. And there are new badges!
> 
> I do have a newb question though. How do you all do your formatting/converting? Do you outsource it or use a program?


For ebooks I use Scrivener to convert to .epub and .mobi files. For print I use Adobe InDesign, but I've also been formatting publications for print since I was in high school so I didn't have too much of a learning curve converting that experience to books (and even then there was a slight learning curve). For my first book I actually used InDesign to convert to .epub, and it was a PITA, thus the switch to Scrivener.



DarkarNights said:


> I initially used Scrivener for my formatting, and it does a great job, but I could not figure out what to do so that enhanced typesetting on Kindle got enable. So I decided to reformat by hand in html. That resulted in a very clean end product and I had complete control over ever aspect of the text without much fuss. I have experience with html so this was pretty easy for me and I'm just going to do this for all my future books. I'll still use Scrivener for the actual manuscripts, as its other features are fantastic.


Sadly, I've never thought about just formatting the HTML by hand. I like Scrivener, but it can be a bit wonky at times (I really need to watch the tutorials) and doesn't always do what I want it to do.

Also, welcome to all the new noobs in this thread!


----------



## Jim Johnson

I had a busy but productive noobish day. Registered online with the IRS for an EIN, then went to the local UPS store for a mailbox for the business. Was happy to discover the monthly rate was about half what I thought it was going to be, so I paid ahead for a year. Then went to City Hall's permit office to fill out my business license application, and also went to the clerk of the circuit court to fill out my certificate of assumed name so that I can do business as a sole proprietor under a business name rather than my own. 

Also editing book 2 to send to the editor tomorrow. And at some point I have to create KDP and CS accounts with all the business info, and tomorrow I head to my bank to open a business bank account.

Phew!


----------



## AlexStiner

Wilden Turk said:


> Great idea for a thread! I was thinking a few days ago we should start a Kboarders freshman class of 2015.
> 
> What I didn't realize is how difficult it is to be "sticky," that the product, regardless of how many wonderful emails you get from readers, feels like it needs constant nurturing (or some would say life support) for visibility. I had naively hoped that a strong product would automatically result in a handful of sales per day because people would browse Amazon's site, find the book, and click to buy.
> 
> Unfortunately, the browsing part of that equation was dead wrong. I wasn't prepared for the abyss.
> 
> But here's a question (directed to all newbies): if you were to become a millionaire, would you prefer to get the money by winning the lottery, or by working hard for it for 20 years?
> 
> Me, I'll take the 20 years. It makes it so much sweeter.


Amen to that about the abyss. I tried cat-browsing for my novella and couldn't find it. And I'll take the 20 years, too. At this rate, it'll take me that long! With a day job, kids, etc., I have to accept that I'm not at the Russell Blake level of production.

One thing I've learned is to keep myself on a draw. I owe four pages a day and build a deficit if I don't meet it. It's jumped productivity 3x or so for me.

Great thread and replies. Anytime I'm hitting the slumps, this site reinvigorates me.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Lucey Phillips said:


> Thanks! I will check her out right now!
> 
> Your cover is awesome


Thank you. Did it myself!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Curses! My bank won't let me open a business account without the official certificate for my business license, so I'll have to wait 7-10 days. Just as well--I won't get my edits on book 1 til tonight and I know I need to spend some time in revisions.

In better news, book 2 was delivered to the editor today right on schedule, and now I'm working on prepping book 3 to send out in the next couple weeks. Ever forward!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Well it's been two weeks since I launched Zero Hour and everything's gone much better than I could have hoped. Sales holding steady and charting at #5 in its category all this week, big jump in KU reads this week. Lots of reviews coming in, nothing negative so far thank goodness! It's showing up in Hot New Releases in two categories and I seem to be getting some traffic on recommendations from Nick Cole's new book The End Of The World As We Knew It as a suggestion when people finish it which is great. 
Not too many email signups so far so need to work on that, but getting some amazing feedback on it. 
To be honest, I expected at least a little help from some authors I've known a while, but sadly that hasn't materialised, so I'm soldiering on and the ones that have helped have been fantastic. Thanks to anyone from here that checked it out and left reviews also. I'm very grateful for the support!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Well it's been two weeks since I launched Zero Hour and everything's gone much better than I could have hoped. Sales holding steady and charting at #5 in its category all this week, big jump in KU reads this week. Lots of reviews coming in, nothing negative so far thank goodness! It's showing up in Hot New Releases in two categories and I seem to be getting some traffic on recommendations from Nick Cole's new book The End Of The World As We Knew It as a suggestion when people finish it which is great.
> Not too many email signups so far so need to work on that, but getting some amazing feedback on it.
> To be honest, I expected at least a little help from some authors I've known a while, but sadly that hasn't materialised, so I'm soldiering on and the ones that have helped have been fantastic. Thanks to anyone from here that checked it out and left reviews also. I'm very grateful for the support!


Seems like things are going well. How are you currently trying to attract mailing list sign ups? I'm offering a free book, and without even having anything out yet, that tactic seems to be a winner.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

I just have a quick plea in the introduction and a QR code for those who don't like browsing on Kindles, but I don't have anything else to give away right now as I'm pretty much starting from scratch. It's something I need to think about. I may try some sort of giveaway soon and run a free promo before I launch the second part in about a month. To be honest, I'm not 100% convinced that model is working as well as it used to. Too many authors doing it now. I'm getting 10-20 emails a day, and that's from authors I like! I'll still try and build it up as best I can though.


----------



## writerbee

Eamon Ambrose said:


> I just have a quick plea in the introduction and a QR code for those who don't like browsing on Kindles, but I don't have anything else to give away right now as I'm pretty much starting from scratch. It's something I need to think about. I may try some sort of giveaway soon and run a free promo before I launch the second part in about a month. To be honest, I'm not 100% convinced that model is working as well as it used to. Too many authors doing it now. I'm getting 10-20 emails a day, and that's from authors I like! I'll still try and build it up as best I can though.


When you say you're getting emails (or want to get more emails, etc.) do you mean, signups for your newsletter, or....? (Sorry for such a basic duh question...;-p)

DMac


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

writerbee said:


> When you say you're getting emails (or want to get more emails, etc.) do you mean, signups for your newsletter, or....? (Sorry for such a basic duh question...;-p)
> 
> DMac


No problem. I was just talking about newsletter emails from authors I've subscribed to myself. It's not that they're spamming or anything, just that once you follow a certain amount of authors you're naturally going to end up getting a lot of emails as a result. I think people are being more choosy about signing up to newsletters now unless they genuinely like the author in question. I know I'm certainly thinking twice.


----------



## writerbee

Eamon Ambrose said:


> No problem. I was just talking about newsletter emails from authors I've subscribed to myself. It's not that they're spamming or anything, just that once you follow a certain amount of authors you're naturally going to end up getting a lot of emails as a result. I think people are being more choosy about signing up to newsletters now unless they genuinely like the author in question. I know I'm certainly thinking twice.


True. I mostly sign up for authors I know, just to see what their newsletter design is like :-D [I'm still fiddling with my newsletter]

You could also offer free things to your Loyal Fans [i.e. newsletter subscribers] --outtakes, teaser for next story, 'secret' backstory on a character....lots of fans just like being in the know, they don't even need a free book.

Also you could do polls, surveys, a contest where the ___th person who signs up (or just a random number) gets to name character...that kind of thing. Kind of what you might put on your author blog or author FB page, but aimed at getting new newsletter subscribers.

Your short story has gotten a lot of fantastic reviews, so quickly! That's great. (Wow you used 2nd person POV brave man ;-D)

DMac


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

writerbee said:


> True. I mostly sign up for authors I know, just to see what their newsletter design is like :-D [I'm still fiddling with my newsletter]
> 
> You could also offer free things to your Loyal Fans [i.e. newsletter subscribers] --outtakes, teaser for next story, 'secret' backstory on a character....lots of fans just like being in the know, they don't even need a free book.
> 
> Also you could do polls, surveys, a contest where the ___th person who signs up (or just a random number) gets to name character...that kind of thing. Kind of what you might put on your author blog or author FB page, but aimed at getting new newsletter subscribers.
> 
> Your short story has gotten a lot of fantastic reviews, so quickly! That's great. (Wow you used 2nd person POV brave man ;-D)
> 
> DMac


Thanks for the tips! Lol yes it was pretty tough writing in that narrative, but it was the only way I could pull off the ending. The only book I had read in 2nd person that I could remember was Forbes West's scifi satire Nighthawks At The Mission and it really worked for that book also, so I drew some inspiration from that.


----------



## Daniel Zellar

Hello!

First-time poster here, but have been lurking a while and just got my first thriller novella up online about a week ago. 

I've been looking into CPC ads on facebook, amazon, goodreads, etc, and the general thought seems to be that you should wait until you have a dozen+ reviews before trying to use them. 

Have any other newbies experimented with them right out of the gate? 

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated, thanks! 

Eamon, your short story sounds intriguing--just bought a copy of it.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Today's newbie task: My first attempt at a description for Amazon. These things are tricky...!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Daniel Zellar said:


> Hello!
> 
> First-time poster here, but have been lurking a while and just got my first thriller novella up online about a week ago.
> 
> I've been looking into CPC ads on facebook, amazon, goodreads, etc, and the general thought seems to be that you should wait until you have a dozen+ reviews before trying to use them.
> 
> Have any other newbies experimented with them right out of the gate?
> 
> Any thoughts on this would be appreciated, thanks!
> 
> Eamon, your short story sounds intriguing--just bought a copy of it.


Thank you Daniel!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Well, today was the final fiddle with my first book. The text is locked. Well, for now...! Just need to finalise the formatting, then, in a couple of weeks, I'll make it available for my mailing list peeps, and then shortly after that.... publication. 
Gulp.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Good luck! If you need a quick proof before you publish give me a shout I'd be happy to help out.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Good luck! If you need a quick proof before you publish give me a shout I'd be happy to help out.


Thanks, very nice of you to offer!


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

writerbee said:


> You could also offer free things to your Loyal Fans [i.e. newsletter subscribers] --outtakes, teaser for next story, 'secret' backstory on a character....lots of fans just like being in the know, they don't even need a free book.
> 
> Also you could do polls, surveys, a contest where the ___th person who signs up (or just a random number) gets to name character...that kind of thing. Kind of what you might put on your author blog or author FB page, but aimed at getting new newsletter subscribers.


This is pretty much what I do. I can't write short stories to save my life, so my "offer" is basically along the lines of, "know about new releases first, AND get exclusive content." That exclusive content is usually deleted scenes, but people seem to like it (I actually had one newsletter subscriber tell me she MUCH preferred the way I'd ended my latest release over the original ending that I'd included in the newsletter, so I know people read the stuff). I admittedly don't have a huge mailing list, but the one I have has a fantastic click through rate and open rate. I'll take a smaller list that's responsive over a huge list that isn't responsive any day of the week.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Hey! Quick question for those of you who have already launched. I've heard conflicting things about advertising your first book. Some say wait until you have a second thing out before doing too much, others pile in straight away. What did you do...?


----------



## Guest

writerbee said:


> True. I mostly sign up for authors I know, just to see what their newsletter design is like :-D [I'm still fiddling with my newsletter]


I signed up to a newsletter today to test out an author's design, but then I unsubscribed right after because I didn't want to be a bogus subscriber.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Hey! Quick question for those of you who have already launched. I've heard conflicting things about advertising your first book. Some say wait until you have a second thing out before doing too much, others pile in straight away. What did you do...?


Is your first book part of a series?


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Is your first book part of a series?


Yeah. Though they're all stand alone stories. New characters/story each time, it's just a fantasy element that crosses over. So the story doesn't carry on from book to book, but it is a series.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Yeah. Though they're all stand alone stories. New characters/story each time, it's just a fantasy element that crosses over. So the story doesn't carry on from book to book, but it is a series.


I've always promoted my stuff right away. However, some people wait until the third book in their series is out so that people who buy the first book will have at least two more books they can buy.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> I've always promoted my stuff right away. However, some people wait until the third book in their series is out so that people who buy the first book will have at least two more books they can buy.


Thanks. The next one will be out a month or so later, so I may just give this a light nudge, then ramp up once I have more available...


----------



## Eva Chase

Matthew Stott said:


> Hey! Quick question for those of you who have already launched. I've heard conflicting things about advertising your first book. Some say wait until you have a second thing out before doing too much, others pile in straight away. What did you do...?


I'm figuring this out myself since I don't launch until next month, but what I'm focusing on right now is trying to get some advance reviews up on Amazon (by reaching out to reviewers, have a NetGalley spot booked, etc.). If I can get at least a few positive reviews up before the release date, I think I'll book some promo for the first week while I have the price reduced. But if I can't, then I'll probably hold off on anything unless it's free or really cheap. I think readers are hesitant to try out a new author even at a sale price unless there's some indication other people have enjoyed the book, and I don't want to throw a lot of money into promos that aren't likely to have much result.


----------



## JalexM

First episode of my Serial is out today!
www.amazon.com/The-Men-Who-Killed-God-ebook/dp/B013VUBNJM/

I'm excited and nervous as I need this serial to do really well. Now time to try to make it permafree.
I also won't lie. I was kind of envious when I saw others explode right out the gate on their debut but it helped motivate me to do better for my second launch.
My goal is to quit my job by February/March, which is daunting in it's own right.


----------



## Jim Johnson

JalexM said:


> First episode of my Serial is out today!
> www.amazon.com/The-Men-Who-Killed-God-ebook/dp/B013VUBNJM/


Congrats on the release! The cover's quite a change of style from the other one in your sig.


----------



## Antara Mann

Thanks Bella for starting this thread. I found it interesting to learn that other authors have gained success with 2.99 first in a series. I am a non-native English speaker, so when I finally finished my novel in January 2014 I was rattling my brains what to do next. I read a ton of self-publishing advice and saw that I had no chance in the traditional route (i am from a very small country in Eastern Europe). I wrote fast a few novellas and gained through them nearly 300 subscribers. Received a harsh 2-star review bashing out the Commonwealth English I have used in my first published book. A lesson to learn! Now, I am very wary with AE/BE. I chose the wrong graphic  designer and then switched to a Fiverr artist - it was a bad move. Thankfully, I learnt a lot from the Self-Publishing Formula FB group. Study the covers and blurbs of those who are in the top 100 in the Kindle Store, especially those in the same genres like you.
I recently learned a very valuable lesson: free books convert way, way worse then 99 cents ones. For example, I applied for a free ad on the Midlist more like a joke. I dd't expect to be accepted but I was! Very friendly people, respond quickly to yoru emails, costed zero and I had around 60 sales on Amazon adn a few on B&N. I was wondering whether to stack the ENT, RobinReads and Fiverr ads for 99 cents or free - to gain more subscribers. In the end of March I did a free select promo with the same title - The Wising Coin and gained 220 subscribers (I offer 3 ebook!) This time though I gained only 6-7 subscribers and my 'landing page' the first time had all sorts of distractions, looked uglier etc. The 2-star review bashing the Commonwealth English from only 9 upvotes, gained 21 altogether and though I have updated the book only one person acknowledged it by writing a comment on this review, thanking me hat I have updated the book. I am planning to release my first written book which I finished in January 2014 and this lackluster promo gave me a bid idea. I was thinking prier to it, to launch the first season of my next novel free and the whole to be priced 4.99 or even 5.99. But now with the awareness that readers are much, much harsher to free books than to even 99 cents ones, I'll go with 99 cents instead.


----------



## Adair Hart

JalexM said:


> First episode of my Serial is out today!
> www.amazon.com/The-Men-Who-Killed-God-ebook/dp/B013VUBNJM/
> 
> I'm excited and nervous as I need this serial to do really well. Now time to try to make it permafree.
> I also won't lie. I was kind of envious when I saw others explode right out the gate on their debut but it helped motivate me to do better for my second launch.
> My goal is to quit my job by February/March, which is daunting in it's own right.


Congratulations man! That's a big goal to set. You're on your way though. I just went live this morning myself, but suspect there will be no exploding gates.

One thing I found interesting this morning when publishing was if you set the age range minimum to 16+, it puts you in teen and young adult  I changed it to 18+.


----------



## JalexM

Adair Hart said:


> Congratulations man! That's a big goal to set. You're on your way though. I just went live this morning myself, but suspect there will be no exploding gates.
> 
> One thing I found interesting this morning when publishing was if you set the age range minimum to 16+, it puts you in teen and young adult  I changed it to 18+.


Thanks. Hmm, didn't know that. I also like your cover.



Jim Johnson said:


> Congrats on the release! The cover's quite a change of style from the other one in your sig.


 Thanks! Yeah it is. I wanted it be a little more understated. To have more of a American God's feeling. I want to brand myself as a fantasy/science fiction writer and this one is really close to magical realism and Skyeater is closer to science fantasy(I call it science fiction because technically it is).


----------



## writerbee

BelleAC said:


> I wanted to add, for n00bs that are experimenting with covers: BigStockPhoto and DepositPhotos offer trial memberships. 5 images a day for 7 days. You can download some quality photos and use them in Canva or Gimp. Or it also helps you when hiring a graphic designer that you already have the photos. Also, if you decide to keep the membership, it's worth it. I did BigStock for a month and now have enough photos to last me a very very long time.


I was poking around on BigStock and they have a lot of images I liked that could work for my covers. 
Do you know if the images downloaded in the free trial offer are licensed to use for book covers? (I tried to find the details on the free offer but it kept telling me to "sign up now!" and "start your fee trial period now!" and I don't want to do that until I figure it out ;-p)

DMac


----------



## Guest

Yes, they are all under the same license, the trial is them basically just eating a little of the cost to get you to become a full paying member


----------



## writerbee

Anma Natsu said:


> Yes, they are all under the same license, the trial is them basically just eating a little of the cost to get you to become a full paying member


Great! thanks, Anma Natsu! :-D


----------



## Guest

writerbee said:


> I was poking around on BigStock and they have a lot of images I liked that could work for my covers.
> Do you know if the images downloaded in the free trial offer are licensed to use for book covers? (I tried to find the details on the free offer but it kept telling me to "sign up now!" and "start your fee trial period now!" and I don't want to do that until I figure it out ;-p)
> 
> DMac


Yep, what Anma said! They're totally licensed for use. (I THINK the standard is 250k copies)


----------



## writerbee

BelleAC said:


> Yep, what Anma said! They're totally licensed for use. (I THINK the standard is 250k copies)


Thanks Belle! Glad they're not just licensed for use on a blog or similar. 
(I'll make a note-to-self, when I've sold 249,999 copies, to get a new cover ;-D) (wouldn't THAT be nice!!! )


----------



## Matthew Stott

Adair Hart said:


> Congratulations man! That's a big goal to set.


It really is...! I like the idea that I mi-i-i-i-i-ght be at that point in 18 months-to-2 years.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Well, things have moved forward for me...
I've set a release date for my first book (20th Oct), by which point I'll hopefully have the eBook AND paperback ready to go. Gulp.


----------



## Overrated

Matthew Stott said:


> Well, things have moved forward for me...
> I've set a release date for my first book (20th Oct), by which point I'll hopefully have the eBook AND paperback ready to go. Gulp.


Congratulations! Scary as it is, I like giving myself a date to hit publish on. It forces me to get organized. You can do this. Read Amazon's guide on how to put the book on Kindle, and if you do Createspace, they have guides on the blog, I think. Or the forum. I've used both.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Lisa Manifold said:


> Congratulations! Scary as it is, I like giving myself a date to hit publish on. It forces me to get organized. You can do this. Read Amazon's guide on how to put the book on Kindle, and if you do Createspace, they have guides on the blog, I think. Or the forum. I've used both.


Thanks! Yeah, I've just been going through some of that. Have downloaded one of the createspace paperback formatting word files to try and get to grips with that...


----------



## Adair Hart

Matthew Stott said:


> Well, things have moved forward for me...
> I've set a release date for my first book (20th Oct), by which point I'll hopefully have the eBook AND paperback ready to go. Gulp.


Awesome man, that's not too far off. I did paperback as well and thought the linking of ebook to paperback would be a day or so, but it appears the process can take longer than that


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

Daniel Zellar said:


> Hello!
> 
> First-time poster here, but have been lurking a while and just got my first thriller novella up online about a week ago.
> 
> I've been looking into CPC ads on facebook, amazon, goodreads, etc, and the general thought seems to be that you should wait until you have a dozen+ reviews before trying to use them.
> 
> Have any other newbies experimented with them right out of the gate?
> 
> Any thoughts on this would be appreciated, thanks!
> 
> Eamon, your short story sounds intriguing--just bought a copy of it.


At last, an issue I can address with some authority.  I tried A/B Facebook ads during my preorder period and both ads were meh, mainly, I think, because it was my first book and it had no reviews. $.22 per click and 50,000-40,000 rank, which means about a sale a day, right? I think people were clicking through but not buying because the book had no reviews

I tried the ads because the book was on sale ($.99 down from $2.99) through the preorder period and on KU so I thought it might attract some interest. I don't think it did.

I'm not too unhappy about it because the book is holding on to the 40k rank even at $2.99, but I'm going to wait until the book gets more reviews before I try FB ads again. Good luck!


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> Awesome man, that's not too far off. I did paperback as well and thought the linking of ebook to paperback would be a day or so, but it appears the process can take longer than that


Yeah it takes about 3-4 days. It really depends. I've had it happen fast but most of the time its a few days. I re-fresh about 134 times a day waiting to see it though! And CONGRATS!


----------



## Guest

writerbee said:


> Thanks Belle! Glad they're not just licensed for use on a blog or similar.
> (I'll make a note-to-self, when I've sold 249,999 copies, to get a new cover ;-D) (wouldn't THAT be nice!!! )


Right?? It would be an excellent "problem" to have. And I think even at that point you can just buy the extended license. Let's hope we both run into this issue in the future!


----------



## Adair Hart

BelleAC said:


> Yeah it takes about 3-4 days. It really depends. I've had it happen fast but most of the time its a few days. I re-fresh about 134 times a day waiting to see it though! And CONGRATS!


Thanks Belle! I called Amazon since my paperback had a slightly different title. Createspace slapped a Volume 1 in the title. I wasn't sure if that would cause a hold up. They merged for it for me and its all on one page now.


----------



## JalexM

Just made the first episode of my serial series free. Hopefully, it works out in my favor.
Now to find some free promos I can use next Tuesday for my second episodes release. 
Next hopefully I get some good reviews.


----------



## Guest

Hello!  I hope everyone has a good weekend.

This is the last day    my husband and I can spend on our island before we head back to Chicago tomorrow.  It's been an enjoyable summer.  

Of the five novellas I'm working on, the first one goes to my editor on 9/21.  

My production is coming along fine.  No problems there.  

Episode 4 of my serial will be published on 9/21.  The serial episodes aren't selling well, but they'll all be combined into a novella, representing the first standalone book in the Pierce series, after I publish episode 5.

Onward and upward. 

Good luck, and stay off Kboards if you're not getting your work done.


----------



## Daniel Zellar

GhostGirlWriter said:


> At last, an issue I can address with some authority.  I tried A/B Facebook ads during my preorder period and both ads were meh, mainly, I think, because it was my first book and it had no reviews. $.22 per click and 50,000-40,000 rank, which means about a sale a day, right? I think people were clicking through but not buying because the book had no reviews
> 
> I tried the ads because the book was on sale ($.99 down from $2.99) through the preorder period and on KU so I thought it might attract some interest. I don't think it did.
> 
> I'm not too unhappy about it because the book is holding on to the 40k rank even at $2.99, but I'm going to wait until the book gets more reviews before I try FB ads again. Good luck!


Thanks, GhostGirl!

Since my book just went up about two weeks ago and you can't do a Kindle Countdown Deal until it's been on for 30 days, I've decided to wait for that to do CPC ads (and hopefully gain more reviews in the meantime).


----------



## Jim Johnson

Awesome day so far--got the edits back for book 2 from the editor and the comments are super useful. The book and the whole series is going to be so much stronger. And the best part is most of the edits are for refinements--no large-scale reconstructions. That means my outlining and drafting processes are kinda-sorta doing what I need them to do. Process is big for me.

Also got the latest draft iteration of the print and ebook cover design from my designer, and it's looking good. Some tweaks and it should be ready for prime-time.

Should be getting a bank account this week, and then the company-specific KDP and CS accounts, and then a bit of a break for a babymoon and then October (fingers crossed) publication of #1 with simultaneous pre-order of #2. Busy but rocking fun times!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend! I'll be hitting many signatures here for books to read when my life turns into 24x7 baby and mommy care.


----------



## WDProsapio

I'm joining the chorus in thanking Bella for this thread. I published in May and will have another novel out in October, and I completely agree that it's been tough to stay engaged on some of the boards - many folks are so further along it feels like being a freshman trying to hang out with the seniors. Not that they aren't very, very nice, because they are, but it is nice to have other noobs to hang with!  

BTW: There are so many great books  on this thread and I'm adding several to my TBR list today! So if you see a tiny lift in your numbers that will be me in the ocean of Kindle readers, waving!  

I'm a little nervous about getting reviews for my second novel, which is part of a grouping of novels, but not a true series. I'm calling them Blue Sage Mysteries because they feature strong women growing in what are very difficult circumstances. There are some cameo appearances between the novels because I find these characters are very alive to me and simply aren't happy sitting the whole thing out in the bullpen. (baseball analogy intended   )

In this first year, I find myself pulled in two directions. I want to treat this as a business and am doing some of that (pro covers, budget for advertising, publishing schedule), but this journey is also intensely about being a creative, about writing the stories that pound on my head and demand to be let out.  It means they aren't lined up neatly, but run the gamut. By the end of the year, I'll have a humor mystery, two Blue Sage Mysteries, and a middle-grade novel with drawings included.  I'm hoping, once I've built a couple things on my list this year, I'll have the patience to publish future work in sensical groups and in an orderly fashion. I guess for now to stay motivated I've got to just get them up there.

Egads. I'm rambling. Anyway, thanks for all the great energy, for the cool new badge, and for sharing so much amazing info.


----------



## celadon

Julz said:


> What a fun thread! Jumping on board so that I can continue watching this thread. Proud to be a member of the class of '15!!


Me too! This is my first post here on KBoards, and how fitting it be on this thread!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Quick question; do HTML codes, or BB codes, or whatever they're called, work for your descriptions? I've heard some say they do, others say you not. So if I wanted a line to be in bold I could just *words here*, and that would work...?


----------



## Cherise

WDProsapio said:


> I'm joining the chorus in thanking Bella for this thread. I published in May and will have another novel out in October, and I completely agree that it's been tough to stay engaged on some of the boards - many folks are so further along it feels like being a freshman trying to hang out with the seniors. Not that they aren't very, very nice, because they are, but it is nice to have other noobs to hang with!
> 
> BTW: There are so many great books on this thread and I'm adding several to my TBR list today! So if you see a tiny lift in your numbers that will be me in the ocean of Kindle readers, waving!
> 
> I'm a little nervous about getting reviews for my second novel, which is part of a grouping of novels, but not a true series. I'm calling them Blue Sage Mysteries because they feature strong women growing in what are very difficult circumstances. There are some cameo appearances between the novels because I find these characters are very alive to me and simply aren't happy sitting the whole thing out in the bullpen. (baseball analogy intended  )
> 
> In this first year, I find myself pulled in two directions. I want to treat this as a business and am doing some of that (pro covers, budget for advertising, publishing schedule), but this journey is also intensely about being a creative, about writing the stories that pound on my head and demand to be let out. It means they aren't lined up neatly, but run the gamut. By the end of the year, I'll have a humor mystery, two Blue Sage Mysteries, and a middle-grade novel with drawings included. I'm hoping, once I've built a couple things on my list this year, I'll have the patience to publish future work in sensical groups and in an orderly fashion. I guess for now to stay motivated I've got to just get them up there.
> 
> Egads. I'm rambling. Anyway, thanks for all the great energy, for the cool new badge, and for sharing so much amazing info.


Welcome to the Writers' Cafe, Desiree!

I guess I'm a sophomore or a junior. Know that I read this thread for some of the insights you freshmen have!


----------



## Cherise

celadon said:


> Me too! This is my first post here on KBoards, and how fitting it be on this thread!


Welcome, Celedon!


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Quick question; do HTML codes, or BB codes, or whatever they're called, work for your descriptions? I've heard some say they do, others say you not. So if I wanted a line to be in bold I could just *words here*, and that would work...?


One Amazon you'd use HTML codes and yes, they do work though they only offer a limited set. On Kboards its BB codes


----------



## Matthew Stott

Anma Natsu said:


> One Amazon you'd use HTML codes and yes, they do work though they only offer a limited set. On Kboards its BB codes


Ah! Cool, thanks.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ooh, should have a proof copy of the paperback for my first book to look at by the end of the week. Exciting! Even if hardly anyone will actually buy a physical copy.


----------



## jovraca

Jolie du Pre said:


> I've been at this since last May....
> But anyway . . . what *I* would change is my not releasing books faster. I got up to four figures last year, and then I lost it. However, I'm releasing books the way I want to now. So I'll work my way back to where I was.


Wow! Amazing. I've been writing for more than 30 years and can count the number of book sales on one hand. How have you achieved the numbers you have at all?


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Ooh, should have a proof copy of the paperback for my first book to look at by the end of the week. Exciting! Even if hardly anyone will actually buy a physical copy.


Congrats! It really is an awesome feeling...I almost teared up when I got my first copies.  (After you release, make sure to get at least one copy and go have fun taking pics of it in B&N and stuff - a silly thing but just so fun!) :-D


----------



## Matthew Stott

Anma Natsu said:


> Congrats! It really is an awesome feeling...I almost teared up when I got my first copies.  (After you release, make sure to get at least one copy and go have fun taking pics of it in B&N and stuff - a silly thing but just so fun!) :-D


Heh! I was actually thinking about buying a few and giving them in to charity second hand book shops.

Apparently the barcode on the back of creatspace books has to be massive, as rather than shrink it to avoid words, they just moved it into a very odd place. I already ordered a proof copy before looking, gah. It'll be a rare collecters item in years to come. One of a kind! Um. Yeah...

I could, technically, launch the eBook on Amazon today, as it's all ready to go, but I'm sticking to my late October publication date. Figure I'll try and build awareness in that time, and send my mailing list their free copies in the hopes of hitting them up for early reviews when I do launch.


----------



## Guest

I have seriously considered going to Half Price books and selling back copies of my books just to get them on the shelf without having to deal with trying to be a local author getting on the shelf LOL

For my print books, I added the barcode to my cover myself so I could position it just where I wanted.  Might try that to see if you can get better results.  (for the proof, look at it as a chance to check everything else :-D).  I did like 2 or 3 paperbackback proofs and a hardback proof of Aisuru before I was satisfied


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

Well the 14-day cliff hit me like a ton of bricks, from 40k all the way down to 200k. Wow.  

It's unfortunate because I only have 7 reviews which I understand is almost, but not quite, good enough for effective advertisement. I have a bunch of review requests out, some FB parties, and a blog tour that starts today so hopefully that will spark some interest (and give me enough reviews to bump me over the 10 review threshold). I also have a new release in three weeks so that will (fingers crossed) give me another bump.

The moral of the story is: try to get at least 10 reviews in the first two weeks. Good luck to all.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Anma Natsu said:


> I have seriously considered going to Half Price books and selling back copies of my books just to get them on the shelf without having to deal with trying to be a local author getting on the shelf LOL
> 
> For my print books, I added the barcode to my cover myself so I could position it just where I wanted. Might try that to see if you can get better results. (for the proof, look at it as a chance to check everything else :-D). I did like 2 or 3 paperbackback proofs and a hardback proof of Aisuru before I was satisfied


Yeah, I might try that next time. For the moment I've just had the designer squash the words a bit further up the back to give the thing room.


----------



## Matthew Stott

GhostGirlWriter said:


> The moral of the story is: try to get at least 10 reviews in the first two weeks. Good luck to all.


I'm going to try and use my mailing list for this. So have them read the book before release, then once released, ask if anyone would be up for leaving a review. A week later, depending on response, I'll email again and offer a free novelette to anyone who leaves a review and sends me the link as proof. Might work...!


----------



## Lucey Phillips

GhostGirlWriter said:


> Well the 14-day cliff hit me like a ton of bricks, from 40k all the way down to 200k. Wow.
> 
> It's unfortunate because I only have 7 reviews which I understand is almost, but not quite, good enough for effective advertisement. I have a bunch of review requests out, some FB parties, and a blog tour that starts today so hopefully that will spark some interest (and give me enough reviews to bump me over the 10 review threshold). I also have a new release in three weeks so that will (fingers crossed) give me another bump.
> 
> The moral of the story is: try to get at least 10 reviews in the first two weeks. Good luck to all.


Thanks for sharing and good luck. I'll be interested to see how your blog tour works out.


----------



## Bbates024

GhostGirlWriter said:


> Well the 14-day cliff hit me like a ton of bricks, from 40k all the way down to 200k. Wow.
> 
> It's unfortunate because I only have 7 reviews which I understand is almost, but not quite, good enough for effective advertisement. I have a bunch of review requests out, some FB parties, and a blog tour that starts today so hopefully that will spark some interest (and give me enough reviews to bump me over the 10 review threshold). I also have a new release in three weeks so that will (fingers crossed) give me another bump.
> 
> The moral of the story is: try to get at least 10 reviews in the first two weeks. Good luck to all.


I completely agree with this, I was surprised how hard it was to get friends and family to drop a review on amazon even with the offer of a free copy. It just seemed funny to me, when I am asked by family, to do something so simple it's a no brainer obviously not everyone feels that way.


----------



## Matthew Stott

So.... I'm planning on going into KU, at least initially, but that obviously just makes the eBook exclusive. So, can you publish just the paperback to other places through D2D, or Smashwords...? Anyone in KU do this already?


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> So.... I'm planning on going into KU, at least initially, but that obviously just makes the eBook exclusive. So, can you publish just the paperback to other places through D2D, or Smashwords...? Anyone in KU do this already?


Yes - KDP Select only requires exclusivity on the digital copy. You can release the paperback, a hardback, etc anywhere else (though other than pushing to Amazon itself, do D2D or Smashwords do paperbacks?).


----------



## Guest

GhostGirlWriter said:


> Well the 14-day cliff hit me like a ton of bricks, from 40k all the way down to 200k. Wow.
> 
> It's unfortunate because I only have 7 reviews which I understand is almost, but not quite, good enough for effective advertisement. I have a bunch of review requests out, some FB parties, and a blog tour that starts today so hopefully that will spark some interest (and give me enough reviews to bump me over the 10 review threshold). I also have a new release in three weeks so that will (fingers crossed) give me another bump.
> 
> The moral of the story is: try to get at least 10 reviews in the first two weeks. Good luck to all.


Wow. That's brutal. I actually think 7 reviews in 2 weeks is pretty damn good. I am sorry to hear about the drop but it sounds like you have pots on the stove and you're ready to take action to get things moving.

I published my 5th book tonight. It took about 14 hours to publish for some reason. But it's done! And I've never been so relieved in my life for a book to be out there. And now I will try to catch 3 hours of sleep before the kids wake up.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> Wow. That's brutal. I actually think 7 reviews in 2 weeks is pretty damn good. I am sorry to hear about the drop but it sounds like you have pots on the stove and you're ready to take action to get things moving.
> 
> I published my 5th book tonight. It took about 14 hours to publish for some reason. But it's done! And I've never been so relieved in my life for a book to be out there. And now I will try to catch 3 hours of sleep before the kids wake up.


Wow, five already in your first year? You're really powering along! Hopefully I'll be able to get five or six things out within my first 12 months.

ANOTHER quick question... If you release the paperback before the eBook (so the eBook a few weeks after the physical version) does the paperbacks time out count towards the titles overall 30 day cliffy-ness? Or does that only start for the eBook once that itself is actually published...?


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Wow, five already in your first year? You're really powering along! Hopefully I'll be able to get five or six things out within my first 12 months.
> 
> ANOTHER quick question... If you release the paperback before the eBook (so the eBook a few weeks after the physical version) does the paperbacks time out count towards the titles overall 30 day cliffy-ness? Or does that only start for the eBook once that itself is actually published...?


5 or 6 in 12 months is very good! And do-able. My goal is to average one a month. So far so good.

As far as the paperbacks vs eBook edition goes... I don't think the cliffs are related. They are ranked completely separately so I imagine the cliffs would not matter. I always publish my paperbacks after the eBooks though, so maybe someone else has more info on that.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> 5 or 6 in 12 months is very good! And do-able. My goal is to average one a month. So far so good.


Yeah, I've tried to make sure I have a few things at least with a complete first draft before I publish anything. I know it's important to try and get lots out in a sort timespan when you start out.



BelleAC said:


> As far as the paperbacks vs eBook edition goes... I don't think the cliffs are related. They are ranked completely separately so I imagine the cliffs would not matter. I always publish my paperbacks after the eBooks though, so maybe someone else has more info on that.


Ah, cool, that's what I figured.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> My goal is to average one a month. So far so good.


Looking good, Alison. Congrats on the new release! 

Two novellas a month OR one novel a month is my goal for 2016.


----------



## Adair Hart

GhostGirlWriter said:


> The moral of the story is: try to get at least 10 reviews in the first two weeks. Good luck to all.


Yikes!  I got seven more to go in the next week!



BelleAC said:


> I published my 5th book tonight. It took about 14 hours to publish for some reason. But it's done! And I've never been so relieved in my life for a book to be out there. And now I will try to catch 3 hours of sleep before the kids wake up.


Congratulations and good luck on your launch, Belle!



Matthew Stott said:


> Ooh, should have a proof copy of the paperback for my first book to look at by the end of the week. Exciting! Even if hardly anyone will actually buy a physical copy.


You might be surprised! I have had five sales of mine since last week, but mostly from friends and family who want it signed.


----------



## JalexM

GhostGirlWriter said:


> Well the 14-day cliff hit me like a ton of bricks, from 40k all the way down to 200k. Wow.
> 
> It's unfortunate because I only have 7 reviews which I understand is almost, but not quite, good enough for effective advertisement. I have a bunch of review requests out, some FB parties, and a blog tour that starts today so hopefully that will spark some interest (and give me enough reviews to bump me over the 10 review threshold). I also have a new release in three weeks so that will (fingers crossed) give me another bump.
> 
> The moral of the story is: try to get at least 10 reviews in the first two weeks. Good luck to all.


Well I got none after 8 days so I don't think I'll get 10 by next Tuesday 
I can't get reviews even when the book is free.


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

BelleAC said:


> Wow. That's brutal. I actually think 7 reviews in 2 weeks is pretty damn good. I am sorry to hear about the drop but it sounds like you have pots on the stove and you're ready to take action to get things moving.
> 
> I published my 5th book tonight. It took about 14 hours to publish for some reason. But it's done! And I've never been so relieved in my life for a book to be out there. And now I will try to catch 3 hours of sleep before the kids wake up.


I know! I was feeling pretty good about the review pace until I hit 200K. Stupid algos.

Congrats! Five books in five years is amazing.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Had my first paperback arrive for proofing!


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Matthew Stott said:


> Had my first paperback arrive for proofing!


WOW, that cover looks absolutely AMAZING! Congrats, Matthew!


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Whee! Just got another good review, and a handful of mailing list subscribers!
I know it's not much, but it just makes SO happy to see that things are moving (however slowly) in the background, and that people are looking forward to my next book. It's really motivating, although I try to only rely on my internal drive for motivation, because... you know... it's the only thing that's guaranteed to still be there on rainy days.

How about you, guys? What keeps you motivated THE MOST?


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

Matthew Stott said:


> Had my first paperback arrive for proofing!


That looks amazing! Congrats!


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

Veronica Sicoe said:


> Whee! Just got another good review, and a handful of mailing list subscribers!
> I know it's not much, but it just makes SO happy to see that things are moving (however slowly) in the background, and that people are looking forward to my next book. It's really motivating, although I try to only rely on my internal drive for motivation, because... you know... it's the only thing that's guaranteed to still be there on rainy days.
> 
> How about you, guys? What keeps you motivated THE MOST?


Hey, slow and steady wins the race.  
I read an article somewhere (Chuck Wendig, maybe?) about how a fan a day is enough to set you up for success. I should have bookmarked it because now I repeat is like a mantra. "I just need one...just one."

Hearing stories about other newbies doing well keeps me motivated. That's why I like this thread so much.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Had my first paperback arrive for proofing!


That cover is AWESOME


----------



## Matthew Stott

Thanks all! I got very lucky with my cover artist. Now, time to fiddle with what I don't like. And my own daft errors, like failing to justify the right hand side of the interior text. DOH.

Also, I think the creatspace template seems to squash the text into the page centre a little. When I compare it to books on my shelf, the text is in a narrower column for some reason. Hm.


----------



## Maia Sepp Ross

Matthew Stott said:


> Had my first paperback arrive for proofing!


That cover is gorgeous.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Veronica Sicoe said:


> Whee! Just got another good review, and a handful of mailing list subscribers!
> I know it's not much, but it just makes SO happy to see that things are moving (however slowly) in the background, and that people are looking forward to my next book. It's really motivating, although I try to only rely on my internal drive for motivation, because... you know... it's the only thing that's guaranteed to still be there on rainy days.
> 
> How about you, guys? What keeps you motivated THE MOST?


Congrats! As for motivation, just the thought of continuing to create stories, and hopefully getting them read. The idea of picking up a few loyal fans.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Congrats on the book, Matthew! I like the cover. It reminds me of the game LIMBO for some reason.

I had a modest newbie moment today--picked up my first piece of mail from my business PO box--it was the official copy of the business license for my business. I'm all official now. I'll take the copy to my bank tomorrow and open my business banking account. This weekend, I'll set up my KDP and CS accounts, and then it's off to the races.


----------



## Guest

Okay, fellow newbies. I was going to write the as a topic and post on the main board, but I think it really pertains to this thread the most so I am leaving it here. A hard lesson I am learning this week.

The honeymoon is over. The friends and family that thought it was cool or cute or interesting that I write books... they're gone. Which is fine but it means my latest launch has been a bit of a dud. At first, this made me very sad. I spent a lot of time last night staring at the wall in my bedroom in deep contemplation over what I was doing with my life. I have written 5 books in 3 months, decent books, with good reviews. Stories that I really enjoy and love and believe in. Shouldn't this be enough? Shouldn't people be buying and buying and buying and I should be basking in my success by now? RIGHT?

Well, no. 

No one knows who the {bleep} I am. I am one in a sea of millions, thousands of which, are as good or better at this than I am. I am not a special snowflake and my words do not leave a mark on this "decaying literary civilization" of ours. (Just semi-quoting a sill thread from the other day) I am one of many authors who want it but wanting it doesn't entitle me to anything. People are not waiting with bated breath for my latest book. Most people are just being nice. Or they are mildly interested. But I am still no one and that's okay.

Now that I know that, I can let go and just write. And learn patience.

I don't say the above to discourage anyone. And some of you will certainly (or already have) take off on a trajectory straight to the top 100 subgenres. And that's so cool. Like, it really is. But IF you're like me and you don't take off, it doesn't mean you suck or you're a big fail. It just means you're going to have to do it the hard way. You're going to have to build it block by block, reader by reader. You're going to have to have days where the lines don't move, where nothing happens. But I truly believe all the days of writing, all the pages written, the books published WILL add up to something. You've just gotta keep going. But it takes a while. Even at barely 3 months in, I am still a baby baby baby author. But I was deluded in my thinking. I thought all I had to do was publish and publish and publish and magic would happen. But its so much more than that. It's a combination of so many things and I couldn't have known any of that until I DID it. Which I have done. So now I know.

Keep goin'. Even when the friends stop buying, keep going. Because this is when the real work begins and the real readership can be built.


----------



## bohemianedu

Matthew Stott said:


> Had my first paperback arrive for proofing!


Such a beautiful cover!


----------



## R.U. Writing

BelleAC said:


> Okay, fellow newbies. I was going to write the as a topic and post on the main board, but I think it really pertains to this thread the most so I am leaving it here. A hard lesson I am learning this week.
> 
> The honeymoon is over. The friends and family that thought it was cool or cute or interesting that I write books... they're gone. Which is fine but it means my latest launch has been a bit of a dud. At first, this made me very sad. I spent a lot of time last night staring at the wall in my bedroom in deep contemplation over what I was doing with my life. I have written 5 books in 3 months, decent books, with good reviews. Stories that I really enjoy and love and believe in. Shouldn't this be enough? Shouldn't people be buying and buying and buying and I should be basking in my success by now? RIGHT?
> 
> Well, no.
> 
> No one knows who the {bleep} I am. I am one in a sea of millions, thousands of which, are as good or better at this than I am. I am not a special snowflake and my words do not leave a mark on this "decaying literary civilization" of ours. (Just semi-quoting a sill thread from the other day) I am one of many authors who want it but wanting it doesn't entitle me to anything. People are not waiting with bated breath for my latest book. Most people are just being nice. Or they are mildly interested. But I am still no one and that's okay.
> 
> Now that I know that, I can let go and just write. And learn patience.
> 
> I don't say the above to discourage anyone. And some of you will certainly (or already have) take off on a trajectory straight to the top 100 subgenres. And that's so cool. Like, it really is. But IF you're like me and you don't take off, it doesn't mean you suck or you're a big fail. It just means you're going to have to do it the hard way. You're going to have to build it block by block, reader by reader. You're going to have to have days where the lines don't move, where nothing happens. But I truly believe all the days of writing, all the pages written, the books published WILL add up to something. You've just gotta keep going. But it takes a while. Even at barely 3 months in, I am still a baby baby baby author. But I was deluded in my thinking. I thought all I had to do was publish and publish and publish and magic would happen. But its so much more than that. It's a combination of so many things and I couldn't have known any of that until I DID it. Which I have done. So now I know.
> 
> Keep goin'. Even when the friends stop buying, keep going. Because this is when the real work begins and the real readership can be built.


All this. Fantastic post. And congrats on the latest launch! I've said it before, but your covers are gorgeous. They have that extra special, ineffable mojo.


----------



## R.U. Writing

Matthew Stott said:


> Thanks all! I got very lucky with my cover artist. Now, time to fiddle with what I don't like. And my own daft errors, like failing to justify the right hand side of the interior text. DOH.
> 
> Also, I think the creatspace template seems to squash the text into the page centre a little. When I compare it to books on my shelf, the text is in a narrower column for some reason. Hm.


I have found that the text is out of alignment on some of the Createspace copies. Could be on the spine, could be on the header, could be on the title, etc. Some copies are perfect. Others are a little bit off.


----------



## Overrated

BelleAC said:


> Okay, fellow newbies. I was going to write the as a topic and post on the main board, but I think it really pertains to this thread the most so I am leaving it here. A hard lesson I am learning this week.
> 
> The honeymoon is over. The friends and family that thought it was cool or cute or interesting that I write books... they're gone. Which is fine but it means my latest launch has been a bit of a dud. At first, this made me very sad. I spent a lot of time last night staring at the wall in my bedroom in deep contemplation over what I was doing with my life. I have written 5 books in 3 months, decent books, with good reviews. Stories that I really enjoy and love and believe in. Shouldn't this be enough? Shouldn't people be buying and buying and buying and I should be basking in my success by now? RIGHT?
> 
> Well, no.
> 
> No one knows who the {bleep} I am. I am one in a sea of millions, thousands of which, are as good or better at this than I am. I am not a special snowflake and my words do not leave a mark on this "decaying literary civilization" of ours. (Just semi-quoting a sill thread from the other day) I am one of many authors who want it but wanting it doesn't entitle me to anything. People are not waiting with bated breath for my latest book. Most people are just being nice. Or they are mildly interested. But I am still no one and that's okay.
> 
> Now that I know that, I can let go and just write. And learn patience.
> 
> I don't say the above to discourage anyone. And some of you will certainly (or already have) take off on a trajectory straight to the top 100 subgenres. And that's so cool. Like, it really is. But IF you're like me and you don't take off, it doesn't mean you suck or you're a big fail. It just means you're going to have to do it the hard way. You're going to have to build it block by block, reader by reader. You're going to have to have days where the lines don't move, where nothing happens. But I truly believe all the days of writing, all the pages written, the books published WILL add up to something. You've just gotta keep going. But it takes a while. Even at barely 3 months in, I am still a baby baby baby author. But I was deluded in my thinking. I thought all I had to do was publish and publish and publish and magic would happen. But its so much more than that. It's a combination of so many things and I couldn't have known any of that until I DID it. Which I have done. So now I know.
> 
> Keep goin'. Even when the friends stop buying, keep going. Because this is when the real work begins and the real readership can be built.


I hear you. I read a lot from other authors, authors who are making a living with their work. Many of them describe a gradual rise. A fair amount describe that moment you had staring at the wall. I've had that moment in the shower, when I'm thinking about what I want to do next, and the Evil Voice Within chimes in, Hey, is it REALLY worth it?

I believe I'll get where I want to be, and I think you will too. I love your books. As a slight side note, my fellow KB authors are breaking my book budget each month. I don't buy other books because I buy the ones I see here daily. Thank god some of you all are in Select.

I don't really have anything profound to add. I just wanted to let you know that I read this, and I was right there with you. The self-doubt and questioning are just murder. But then I kick that nonsense to the curb, and go write some more, or figure out what I want to do with my promo schedule, or something positive that can move me forward.

I have great faith in you, as I do in us all. I'm always really impressed with the people who are constantly working, improving, and moving forward. Even if it's only one small step at a time.


----------



## Adair Hart

Matthew Stott said:


> Had my first paperback arrive for proofing!


Sweet cover man!



Jim Johnson said:


> Congrats on the book, Matthew! I like the cover. It reminds me of the game LIMBO for some reason.
> 
> I had a modest newbie moment today--picked up my first piece of mail from my business PO box--it was the official copy of the business license for my business. I'm all official now. I'll take the copy to my bank tomorrow and open my business banking account. This weekend, I'll set up my KDP and CS accounts, and then it's off to the races.


Awesome, Jim! I debated getting a business account, and maybe going as a LLC with an EIN, but will try the sole propietor and DBA route with SSN for now. Good luck at the races!



BelleAC said:


> Okay, fellow newbies. I was going to write the as a topic and post on the main board, but I think it really pertains to this thread the most so I am leaving it here. A hard lesson I am learning this week.
> 
> The honeymoon is over. The friends and family that thought it was cool or cute or interesting that I write books... they're gone. Which is fine but it means my latest launch has been a bit of a dud. At first, this made me very sad. I spent a lot of time last night staring at the wall in my bedroom in deep contemplation over what I was doing with my life. I have written 5 books in 3 months, decent books, with good reviews. Stories that I really enjoy and love and believe in. Shouldn't this be enough? Shouldn't people be buying and buying and buying and I should be basking in my success by now? RIGHT?
> 
> Well, no.
> 
> No one knows who the {bleep} I am. I am one in a sea of millions, thousands of which, are as good or better at this than I am. I am not a special snowflake and my words do not leave a mark on this "decaying literary civilization" of ours. (Just semi-quoting a sill thread from the other day) I am one of many authors who want it but wanting it doesn't entitle me to anything. People are not waiting with bated breath for my latest book. Most people are just being nice. Or they are mildly interested. But I am still no one and that's okay.
> 
> Now that I know that, I can let go and just write. And learn patience.
> 
> I don't say the above to discourage anyone. And some of you will certainly (or already have) take off on a trajectory straight to the top 100 subgenres. And that's so cool. Like, it really is. But IF you're like me and you don't take off, it doesn't mean you suck or you're a big fail. It just means you're going to have to do it the hard way. You're going to have to build it block by block, reader by reader. You're going to have to have days where the lines don't move, where nothing happens. But I truly believe all the days of writing, all the pages written, the books published WILL add up to something. You've just gotta keep going. But it takes a while. Even at barely 3 months in, I am still a baby baby baby author. But I was deluded in my thinking. I thought all I had to do was publish and publish and publish and magic would happen. But its so much more than that. It's a combination of so many things and I couldn't have known any of that until I DID it. Which I have done. So now I know.
> 
> Keep goin'. Even when the friends stop buying, keep going. Because this is when the real work begins and the real readership can be built.


Belle! Keep your head up!  You are incredibly productive, and in three years, when the class of 2015 posts their obligatory three year analysis, we will all have a good laugh at our newbie days! 

My friends and family bump is gone, so my focus now is writing my next book (72k atm, halfway through act 3) and dipping my toe into the audiobook arena. I'm settling in for the long haul, got my block laying machine ready to go, and ready to make the journey with all of my fellow newbies!


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Okay, fellow newbies. I was going to write the as a topic and post on the main board, but I think it really pertains to this thread the most so I am leaving it here. A hard lesson I am learning this week.
> 
> The honeymoon is over. The friends and family that thought it was cool or cute or interesting that I write books... they're gone. Which is fine but it means my latest launch has been a bit of a dud. At first, this made me very sad. I spent a lot of time last night staring at the wall in my bedroom in deep contemplation over what I was doing with my life. I have written 5 books in 3 months, decent books, with good reviews. Stories that I really enjoy and love and believe in. Shouldn't this be enough? Shouldn't people be buying and buying and buying and I should be basking in my success by now? RIGHT?
> 
> Well, no.
> 
> No one knows who the {bleep} I am. I am one in a sea of millions, thousands of which, are as good or better at this than I am. I am not a special snowflake and my words do not leave a mark on this "decaying literary civilization" of ours. (Just semi-quoting a sill thread from the other day) I am one of many authors who want it but wanting it doesn't entitle me to anything. People are not waiting with bated breath for my latest book. Most people are just being nice. Or they are mildly interested. But I am still no one and that's okay.
> 
> Now that I know that, I can let go and just write. And learn patience.
> 
> I don't say the above to discourage anyone. And some of you will certainly (or already have) take off on a trajectory straight to the top 100 subgenres. And that's so cool. Like, it really is. But IF you're like me and you don't take off, it doesn't mean you suck or you're a big fail. It just means you're going to have to do it the hard way. You're going to have to build it block by block, reader by reader. You're going to have to have days where the lines don't move, where nothing happens. But I truly believe all the days of writing, all the pages written, the books published WILL add up to something. You've just gotta keep going. But it takes a while. Even at barely 3 months in, I am still a baby baby baby author. But I was deluded in my thinking. I thought all I had to do was publish and publish and publish and magic would happen. But its so much more than that. It's a combination of so many things and I couldn't have known any of that until I DID it. Which I have done. So now I know.
> 
> Keep goin'. Even when the friends stop buying, keep going. Because this is when the real work begins and the real readership can be built.


Good post. Also, keep in mind that reaching the goal doesn't mean you'll stay there. You can lose it if you don't keep up with your books. Don't rest on your laurels. Keep publishing even when you're doing well, or you'll have to start over like I'm having to do.


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

BelleAC said:


> I don't say the above to discourage anyone. And some of you will certainly (or already have) take off on a trajectory straight to the top 100 subgenres. And that's so cool. Like, it really is. But IF you're like me and you don't take off, it doesn't mean you suck or you're a big fail. It just means you're going to have to do it the hard way. You're going to have to build it block by block, reader by reader. You're going to have to have days where the lines don't move, where nothing happens. But I truly believe all the days of writing, all the pages written, the books published WILL add up to something. You've just gotta keep going. But it takes a while. Even at barely 3 months in, I am still a baby baby baby author. But I was deluded in my thinking. I thought all I had to do was publish and publish and publish and magic would happen. But its so much more than that. It's a combination of so many things and I couldn't have known any of that until I DID it. Which I have done. So now I know.
> 
> Keep goin'. Even when the friends stop buying, keep going. Because this is when the real work begins and the real readership can be built.


THIS. I'm printing it and putting it in my bulletin board. Good luck, Belle!


----------



## L.B

BelleAC said:


> Okay, fellow newbies. I was going to write the as a topic and post on the main board, but I think it really pertains to this thread the most so I am leaving it here. A hard lesson I am learning this week.
> 
> The honeymoon is over. The friends and family that thought it was cool or cute or interesting that I write books... they're gone. Which is fine but it means my latest launch has been a bit of a dud. At first, this made me very sad. I spent a lot of time last night staring at the wall in my bedroom in deep contemplation over what I was doing with my life. I have written 5 books in 3 months, decent books, with good reviews. Stories that I really enjoy and love and believe in. Shouldn't this be enough? Shouldn't people be buying and buying and buying and I should be basking in my success by now? RIGHT?
> 
> Well, no.
> 
> No one knows who the {bleep} I am. I am one in a sea of millions, thousands of which, are as good or better at this than I am. I am not a special snowflake and my words do not leave a mark on this "decaying literary civilization" of ours. (Just semi-quoting a sill thread from the other day) I am one of many authors who want it but wanting it doesn't entitle me to anything. People are not waiting with bated breath for my latest book. Most people are just being nice. Or they are mildly interested. But I am still no one and that's okay.
> 
> Now that I know that, I can let go and just write. And learn patience.
> 
> I don't say the above to discourage anyone. And some of you will certainly (or already have) take off on a trajectory straight to the top 100 subgenres. And that's so cool. Like, it really is. But IF you're like me and you don't take off, it doesn't mean you suck or you're a big fail. It just means you're going to have to do it the hard way. You're going to have to build it block by block, reader by reader. You're going to have to have days where the lines don't move, where nothing happens. But I truly believe all the days of writing, all the pages written, the books published WILL add up to something. You've just gotta keep going. But it takes a while. Even at barely 3 months in, I am still a baby baby baby author. But I was deluded in my thinking. I thought all I had to do was publish and publish and publish and magic would happen. But its so much more than that. It's a combination of so many things and I couldn't have known any of that until I DID it. Which I have done. So now I know.
> 
> Keep goin'. Even when the friends stop buying, keep going. Because this is when the real work begins and the real readership can be built.


This is a fantastic post Belle.

I think 'keep going' is probably the best thing for beginners (like me!), to do. Your backlist will get bigger, your writing will get better, you will understand the business more etc.

In a year or maybe even two, reflect and see what you can improve, or change to make your backlist start working for you.


----------



## Guest

Wilden Turk said:


> All this. Fantastic post. And congrats on the latest launch! I've said it before, but your covers are gorgeous. They have that extra special, ineffable mojo.


Thanks, Wilden! This latest one I actually did myself using Canva. So it was also free. Which was nice because I spent a lot on editing.


----------



## Guest

Lisa Manifold said:


> I hear you. I read a lot from other authors, authors who are making a living with their work. Many of them describe a gradual rise. A fair amount describe that moment you had staring at the wall. I've had that moment in the shower, when I'm thinking about what I want to do next, and the Evil Voice Within chimes in, Hey, is it REALLY worth it?
> 
> I believe I'll get where I want to be, and I think you will too. I love your books. As a slight side note, my fellow KB authors are breaking my book budget each month. I don't buy other books because I buy the ones I see here daily. Thank god some of you all are in Select.
> 
> I don't really have anything profound to add. I just wanted to let you know that I read this, and I was right there with you. The self-doubt and questioning are just murder. But then I kick that nonsense to the curb, and go write some more, or figure out what I want to do with my promo schedule, or something positive that can move me forward.
> 
> I have great faith in you, as I do in us all. I'm always really impressed with the people who are constantly working, improving, and moving forward. Even if it's only one small step at a time.


Aww we thanks Lisa! Your comment made me smile. And I know what you mean, I am in KU mostly so I can keep up with all the KBoards books I see and love on here. Your books are truly beautiful. We will get there. And just knowing you get it and you hear me, means so much. In a business that can be lonely it's nice to have others who can understand.


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> Belle! Keep your head up!  You are incredibly productive, and in three years, when the class of 2015 posts their obligatory three year analysis, we will all have a good laugh at our newbie days!
> 
> My friends and family bump is gone, so my focus now is writing my next book (72k atm, halfway through act 3) and dipping my toe into the audiobook arena. I'm settling in for the long haul, got my block laying machine ready to go, and ready to make the journey with all of my fellow newbies!


I seriously love your attitude and spirit. You are always such a sunny spot on this thread. And I can't wait to see what you have next! My second audiobook just came out this week! It's a fun process! Glad you're in this class with me. Can't wait to be grizzled veterans together.



Jolie du Pre said:


> Good post. Also, keep in mind that reaching the goal doesn't mean you'll stay there. You can lose it if you don't keep up with your books. Don't rest on your laurels. Keep publishing even when you're doing well, or you'll have to start over like I'm having to do.


So true and one of the biggest things I have learned from you is don't rest and coast. Keep going even when you're having some momentum. You're going to recapture what you once had and completely speed way beyond it. I love your work ethic and your honesty.



GhostGirlWriter said:


> THIS. I'm printing it and putting it in my bulletin board. Good luck, Belle!


Yeah! Good luck to you too, GhostGirl! We got this.



B. Yard said:


> This is a fantastic post Belle.
> 
> I think 'keep going' is probably the best thing for beginners (like me!), to do. Your backlist will get bigger, your writing will get better, you will understand the business more etc.
> 
> In a year or maybe even two, reflect and see what you can improve, or change to make your backlist start working for you.


Thanks B.Yard. And yep, we just gotta keep swimming as one of the characters in my son's favorite Disney movie always says. Keep writing, keep going, and one day you'll have built something. And each layer will be better than the one before.

Also, you have a really cool profile photo.

Thanks my fellow newbs! I hope your weekends are full of fantastic things!!


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> Thanks B.Yard. And yep, we just gotta keep swimming as one of the characters in my son's favorite Disney movie always says. Keep writing, keep going, and one day you'll have built something. And each layer will be better than the one before.


Yup! Keep writing, learning and building. Find what works and find new ways to get in front of readers. Remember that, for most of us, it's gonna be a slow build. Maybe a veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slow build...! We can't and won't all explode out of the blocks. Some of us will barely even crawl out of the blocks.  Which means occasional dark moments, wondering what the heck we're even doing. Then shake that off and get back to work.


----------



## L.B

BelleAC said:


> I seriously love your attitude and spirit. You are always such a sunny spot on this thread. And I can't wait to see what you have next! My second audiobook just came out this week! It's a fun process! Glad you're in this class with me. Can't wait to be grizzled veterans together.
> 
> So true and one of the biggest things I have learned from you is don't rest and coast. Keep going even when you're having some momentum. You're going to recapture what you once had and completely speed way beyond it. I love your work ethic and your honesty.
> 
> Yeah! Good luck to you too, GhostGirl! We got this.
> 
> Thanks B.Yard. And yep, we just gotta keep swimming as one of the characters in my son's favorite Disney movie always says. Keep writing, keep going, and one day you'll have built something. And each layer will be better than the one before.
> 
> Also, you have a really cool profile photo.
> 
> Thanks my fellow newbs! I hope your weekends are full of fantastic things!!


Thanks for the compliment regarding my profile picture. I used my own face and everything!


----------



## Guest

Just a note to my fellow newbies:

I can participate at Kboards, because many months ago I resolved to *ALWAYS* get my writing done for the day. So far, I've stuck to that resolution and have stayed on track. (I'm uploading episode 4 of my serial to Amazon today. Episode 5 (the final episode) will be published on October 5. Then I move permanently away from serial episodes to novella length. (In the future, possibly also novel length.) Five novellas will be published in December 2015.)

If you find that your participation at Kboards is preventing you from writing as many words as you should - leave Kboards until your words are written. Don't spend your time cheering on successful authors while you remain an author who hasn't gotten there yet. FOCUS ON YOU, NOT THEM.

Have a good weekend!


----------



## Lucey Phillips

Jolie du Pre said:


> Just a note to my fellow newbies:
> 
> I can participate at Kboards, because many months ago I resolved to *ALWAYS* get my writing done for the day. So far, I've stuck to that resolution and have stayed on track. (I'm uploading episode 4 of my serial to Amazon today. Episode 5 (the final episode) will be published on October 5. Then I move permanently away from serial episodes to novella length. (In the future, possibly also novel length.) Five novellas will be published in December 2015.)
> 
> If you find that your participation at Kboards is preventing you from writing as many words as you should - leave Kboards until your words are written. Don't spend your time cheering on successful authors while you remain an author who hasn't gotten there yet. FOCUS ON YOU, NOT THEM.
> 
> Have a good weekend!


That's a good policy. And congrats!


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Just a note to my fellow newbies:
> 
> I can participate at Kboards, because many months ago I resolved to *ALWAYS* get my writing done for the day. So far, I've stuck to that resolution and have stayed on track. (I'm uploading episode 4 of my serial to Amazon today. Episode 5 (the final episode) will be published on October 5. Then I move permanently away from serial episodes to novella length. (In the future, possibly also novel length.) Five novellas will be published in December 2015.)
> 
> If you find that your participation at Kboards is preventing you from writing as many words as you should - leave Kboards until your words are written. Don't spend your time cheering on successful authors while you remain an author who hasn't gotten there yet. FOCUS ON YOU, NOT THEM.
> 
> Have a good weekend!


All of this. Per usual, Jolie keeps us on track. I look at KBoards as my reward for a great writing day or a nice sprint. It can easily become a time suck and sometimes I prefer to procrastinate on threads about marketing and sales without doing the most important part... the writing! NONE of the other stuff matters a single bit if the words don't exist.

Happy weekend to you too, Jolie! And to everyone! Today's my day off from both writing and calorie counting, so I'm going to indulge in some pizza and Netflix.


----------



## Guest

When the internet distracts me too much (so easy to do), I use Freedom App to cut it off for my computer for a set time (the only way to re-enable is to reboot or wait for the timer to run out), forcing me to focus on the writing. Personally, I'd get the legacy version which works great and was only $10. You can get that one here: https://macfreedom.80pct.com/ (they are continuing to offer it until the end of the year)

The new version is a more cloud based model (an irony they do note). I didn't like it nearly as much, plus it requires a yearly subscription which I abhor, but it can be useful if you need to have it on multiple devices or want to use to also make the phone and tablets be quiet.


----------



## JalexM

That's why I hand-write most of my stuff, to keep away from distractions.  

On that note, the third episode of my serial comes out on Tuesday. They say third is the charm but I doubt it is for serials. Especially since my sales are none existent at the moment. But I hopefully I get some movement.


----------



## Adair Hart

BelleAC said:


> I seriously love your attitude and spirit. You are always such a sunny spot on this thread. And I can't wait to see what you have next! My second audiobook just came out this week! It's a fun process! Glad you're in this class with me. Can't wait to be grizzled veterans together.


Aww shucks Belle! Thanks! Did you do the royalty share or pay for hour? I put mine out there but no auditions yet. Wondering if it is due to being new, low reviews, and a sub 100k rank, or if I need to switch to pfh, or if I need to hunt down a narrator and ask them to audition and change my royalty/pfh based on that.



Jolie du Pre said:


> Just a note to my fellow newbies:
> 
> I can participate at Kboards, because many months ago I resolved to *ALWAYS* get my writing done for the day. So far, I've stuck to that resolution and have stayed on track. (I'm uploading episode 4 of my serial to Amazon today. Episode 5 (the final episode) will be published on October 5. Then I move permanently away from serial episodes to novella length. (In the future, possibly also novel length.) Five novellas will be published in December 2015.)
> 
> If you find that your participation at Kboards is preventing you from writing as many words as you should - leave Kboards until your words are written. Don't spend your time cheering on successful authors while you remain an author who hasn't gotten there yet. FOCUS ON YOU, NOT THEM.
> 
> Have a good weekend!


Great stuff Jolie! You're a machine! I split my writing into two chunks for the day, one in the morning, and one at night. Can usually get 2k a day, although when working 10-12 hours days, I only get my morning time in. Kboards is my goto when I have downtime. I have found the second book is going a lot faster now that I know the mechanics a bit better and managing my time!

On another note, I launched September 6, with a goal of 20-25 sales for September. As of this morning, I hit 20 digital sales, 6 paperback sales, and 4300 page reads, woot!


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> On another note, I launched September 6, with a goal of 20-25 sales for September. As of this morning, I hit 20 digital sales, 6 paperback sales, and 4300 page reads, woot!


Congratulations, Adair!!


----------



## SaraBeatty

Just thought that I'd jump on into this thread since I've been lurking around for some time. I'm hoping to join you published authors by January. I'm attempting to get a few titles finished before I publish.


----------



## komachan

SaraBeatty said:


> Just thought that I'd jump on into this thread since I've been lurking around for some time. I'm hoping to join you published authors by January. I'm attempting to get a few titles finished before I publish.


Ha! I'm in the same boat. Up to my ears in research and tucking away ideas as they come to me. I'm also getting used to the night shift and my writing mind has yet to get into gear. :/

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> Aww shucks Belle! Thanks! Did you do the royalty share or pay for hour? I put mine out there but no auditions yet. Wondering if it is due to being new, low reviews, and a sub 100k rank, or if I need to switch to pfh, or if I need to hunt down a narrator and ask them to audition and change my royalty/pfh based on that.


I do the royalty share. No one was auditioning for me (probably because I was new and it was royalty share without a stipend from ACX, among other things) so I hunted down my amazing narrator and she agreed to do the series as a royalty share. But I feel bad because we really aren't selling a ton of audiobooks and I'm afraid she might insist on getting paid up front (don't blame her if she does) and I am not in a place where I can afford that right now. But bless her because she does a great job.



SaraBeatty said:


> Just thought that I'd jump on into this thread since I've been lurking around for some time. I'm hoping to join you published authors by January. I'm attempting to get a few titles finished before I publish.


Welcome, Sara! I about had a heart attack when I saw "Mechanicsville" under your name but you're from the one in Maryland. I was raised in the one in Virginia.  Can't wait to see what you publish! Glad you're here.


----------



## SaraBeatty

Thanks for the welcome! But yeah I've never been but I've heard of it.


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

*waves* Hey everyone! I'd taken a bit of an unintentional break from kBoards. Life has been crazy the past month and I kind of shut down for a week or so (if you want the details, they're all up on my blog). BUT I wanted to share some pretty cool news.  My third novel, Big Girls Need Love Too, received a Gold Star Review over at The Book Designer this past week. I was super stoked. 

I also started the audiobook process yesterday on ACX and am hoping someone decides to audition for them. Not sure how that's going to work out, but considering  my day job's about to come to an end (part of that craptastic past month, since I'm not in a place yet where I can live off of my writing) I figure having additional revenue streams sure can't hurt anything.

Now, if I could just get back to writing Hair Trigger Heart and get this story finished...


----------



## TheEclecticScribe

I'm still working on what I hope will become my first published novel, so reading about your experiences is inspiring.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Finished a spooky novelette, which will be my second release. Have booked in the editor today and commissioned a front cover from the same guy I've used for my kids series. Hoping he'll come up with something just as ace for this adult story. I'd considered going for a premade cover, to save on cash seeing as how it's so short and I can only really charge $0.99 for it, but decided I'm building myself as a brand. I'd rather spend the money, perhaps take a little loss, but be able to have all my covers be of a standard and relevance to the story that I can be happy with.

Also the second book in my kids series is more or less done. One more pass through, then I'll be booking editor time for that, too. Feels good to be getting several things ready to go! Next, i need to finish scribbling the third book in the kids series.


----------



## Matthew Stott

So I'll be releasing my first book soon, and I'm wondering about paid promotion. I know many say don't head too far down that road until you have a few books out, so people have other things to move onto and buy, but thought it can't hurt to at least have a few promos set up?
So did anyone else pay for promotions on their first release? Any places you'd give the thumbs up to for a newbie with their first book..?
I see all the names on different threads, but having no first hand experience it just seems like a whole whirl of different places and it's difficult to know which way to go first..! Thanks.
(oh, the book is a bit fantasy, bit spooky, think Neil Gaiman's Coraline)


----------



## Guest

Hello!  Happy Monday!

I'm finished with my final serial episode installment, and I'll be publishing it next Monday.  

Then no more serial episodes for me.  Looking forward to publishing novellas, and possibly novels, after I publish my final serial episode. 

Enjoy your day!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Nicknacks said:


> Off the top of my head, new-release friendly sites are: BKnights, Betty Bookfreak, Robin Reads. There are so many others & loads of promo posts, but most sites want to see some reviews first. Also, all of them recommend a discounted price on promo. Check out C Gockel's handy list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gp1U9L_p2bS6NLC0i2EHyRHYrIyPvQUqY9BG51ejrrQ/htmlview
> Good luck!


Ah, thanks very much!


----------



## Adair Hart

BelleAC said:


> I do the royalty share. No one was auditioning for me (probably because I was new and it was royalty share without a stipend from ACX, among other things) so I hunted down my amazing narrator and she agreed to do the series as a royalty share. But I feel bad because we really aren't selling a ton of audiobooks and I'm afraid she might insist on getting paid up front (don't blame her if she does) and I am not in a place where I can afford that right now. But bless her because she does a great job.


I added PFH to my ACX, and the auditions began coming in. I did track one narrator I liked, and they sent in an audition, and awaiting another. Up to 4 at them moment. Not sure how they are willing to wait, but I am letting it sit for a bit until I find one I like!



AubreyGross said:


> *waves* Hey everyone! I'd taken a bit of an unintentional break from kBoards. Life has been crazy the past month and I kind of shut down for a week or so (if you want the details, they're all up on my blog). BUT I wanted to share some pretty cool news.  My third novel, Big Girls Need Love Too, received a Gold Star Review over at The Book Designer this past week. I was super stoked.


Congratulations on the gold star! The book designer is what actually prompted me to change my iniital cover to what I have now.



Jolie du Pre said:


> Congratulations, Adair!!


Thanks Jolie! I am still toying with the idea of a novella series alongside my novel series. I have been lurking on the serial support thread for a while soaking up everyones experiences there. Just finished my second book sunday at 85k  Copyedit phase 1 begins in one week and cover is next month!


----------



## amdonehere

Really glad for this thread. I'm very closed to finishing my draft on my 4 book series.  I was very ambitious at first and wanted to launch Book 1 and 2 simultaneously around X'mas, but I'm starting a new job next week and that goal is now unrealistic. I hope now I can launch Book 1 in Kindle Select in Dec, Book 2 in Jan 22, then Book 3 late March and Book 4 on June 4. I found an amazing artist who did my Book 1 cover already. I'm revising my Book 1 this month and found an editor on Reedsy who will edit my work early Nov. I'm also very lucky to have a few online friends who had been following my story, (yes it's strange, I actually have a few fans) and now that I told them I plan to turn the story into a self-published book, they're all jumping in to help me proofread and give feedback to my revised version.

This month I also have to figure how to build an author's website (soooo dreading that, I've never had any luck with websites for my own businesses or other interests...I always got screwed one way or another). 

My story is a historical WWII love story. The first book takes place in old Chicago, and I plan to try reaching out to some groups related to Chicago to see if they are interested. Book 2-4, I've decided not to pursue the groups related to what I'm writing about. People get weird with historicals. I actually based my story on a real US military Division. I think people related to that Division might not like it that I wrote about them, even though I wrote about them in the best positive light as my protagonist MC is in that division in my fictional account. I had such a good time writing this story, and learned so much. Even though I'm writing a love story and not a war story, I took my research very seriously and meticulously supported things I referenced with facts. I even kept all the records in Scrivener in case I need to back things up, and found a real veteran who consulted with me through every one of my battle scenes. But my biggest fear is someone somewhere will get mad at me and throw some blacklash or tantrum because they perceived something they didn't like in what I wrote in my fictional account.

So I'm feeling very strange that I wrote this big story about a part of history that most people don't know, but as much as my story pays tribute to the people I wrote about, I won't have anything to do with them.

Anyway, that's where I'm at now.


----------



## Eva Chase

Matthew Stott said:


> So I'll be releasing my first book soon, and I'm wondering about paid promotion. I know many say don't head too far down that road until you have a few books out, so people have other things to move onto and buy, but thought it can't hurt to at least have a few promos set up?
> So did anyone else pay for promotions on their first release? Any places you'd give the thumbs up to for a newbie with their first book..?


I've ended up getting a few nice advance reviews up for my first book (out in two weeks), so I went ahead and applied for a bunch of paid promo options, mostly at the lower cost end, as well as some free, just to see how it goes. I'll be doing a promo results thread starting Oct 13 to report the results, so you might want to keep an eye out for that, as it'll give an idea of what's possible for a totally new author with only one book. I'm very curious to find out too!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Hey everybody just checking in for a quick update. Finished Zero Hour Part 2 and just got the first round of edits back from my editor, so hopefully will launch at the weekend. Part one still selling pretty well, has hit over 500 copies after 5 weeks and still top 5 in its category, although sales are starting to slow, which I expected to happen much sooner, but at this stage I really can't complain. Nervous about how this will go, but let's see what happens!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Quickie update for me. Most of my last week has been spent in the hospital or at home enjoying the new creation my wife and I cooked up:










I had opened a business checking account the Friday before we went into the birthing center and I received the box of checks, so I'm all set on a financial standpoint other than to decide whether I want a separate paypal account for the business (I'm thinking not since I've had the one I have for ages and it'll do the job just fine).

I'm working on revisions for books 1 and 2 that I got back from the editor and prepping book 3 to send to the editor. My cover artist is finalizing the layout for the covers for the series, and I'm soliciting artists for some interior art. Things are progressing nicely and I think I'm looking at a late Oct release and then one a month thereafter. The idea of having three episodes out by Christmas is super-exciting.

Hope everyone is doing well working toward their goals.


----------



## Guest

Jim, congratulations on your beautiful baby!  Also, great to see how things are progressing for you!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Jolie du Pre said:


> Jim, congratulations on your beautiful baby! Also, great to see how things are progressing for you!


Thank you! I'm drawing lots of inspiration from you and all the other folks here. I'm ready to join in the fun and hit that publish button early and often.


----------



## Liz French

Jim your productivity puts me to shame! I am also in the midst of a big life change, not as big as yours though, just shipping myself and my dog from Australia to the UK. And I'm embarrassed to say my output has dwindled to nothing. I've given myself permission not to worry about it for the time being, I'll pick it up when I get to the other side. But congratulations to you on all counts, it's inspiring.


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Quickie update for me. Most of my last week has been spent in the hospital or at home enjoying the new creation my wife and I cooked up:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I had opened a business checking account the Friday before we went into the birthing center and I received the box of checks, so I'm all set on a financial standpoint other than to decide whether I want a separate paypal account for the business (I'm thinking not since I've had the one I have for ages and it'll do the job just fine).
> 
> I'm working on revisions for books 1 and 2 that I got back from the editor and prepping book 3 to send to the editor. My cover artist is finalizing the layout for the covers for the series, and I'm soliciting artists for some interior art. Things are progressing nicely and I think I'm looking at a late Oct release and then one a month thereafter. The idea of having three episodes out by Christmas is super-exciting.
> 
> Hope everyone is doing well working toward their goals.


Congrats on that sweet baby!!!


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> Quickie update for me. Most of my last week has been spent in the hospital or at home enjoying the new creation my wife and I cooked up:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I had opened a business checking account the Friday before we went into the birthing center and I received the box of checks, so I'm all set on a financial standpoint other than to decide whether I want a separate paypal account for the business (I'm thinking not since I've had the one I have for ages and it'll do the job just fine).
> 
> I'm working on revisions for books 1 and 2 that I got back from the editor and prepping book 3 to send to the editor. My cover artist is finalizing the layout for the covers for the series, and I'm soliciting artists for some interior art. Things are progressing nicely and I think I'm looking at a late Oct release and then one a month thereafter. The idea of having three episodes out by Christmas is super-exciting.
> 
> Hope everyone is doing well working toward their goals.


Congratulations on the new addition to your family!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Hey everybody just checking in for a quick update. Finished Zero Hour Part 2 and just got the first round of edits back from my editor, so hopefully will launch at the weekend. Part one still selling pretty well, has hit over 500 copies after 5 weeks and still top 5 in its category, although sales are starting to slow, which I expected to happen much sooner, but at this stage I really can't complain. Nervous about how this will go, but let's see what happens!


Interested in seeing where this goes. I just read part one the other day and enjoyed it very much.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eva Chase said:


> I'll be doing a promo results thread starting Oct 13 to report the results, so you might want to keep an eye out for that, as it'll give an idea of what's possible for a totally new author with only one book. I'm very curious to find out too!


Will do!


----------



## amdonehere

Congratulations, Jim.


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

Congratulations, Jim!. Now, that's what I call productivity.


----------



## Jim Johnson

GhostGirlWriter said:


> Congratulations, Jim!. Now, that's what I call productivity.


----------



## Skyla

TheEclecticScribe said:


> I'm still working on what I hope will become my first published novel, so reading about your experiences is inspiring.


Keep at it and I know you'll get there. Don't get so caught up on the experience of what comes after until you finish. Just writing a novel is quite an accomplishment!  Save the more stressful stuff for later


----------



## Rue Hirsch

Aww, what a sweet lil baby! Congratulations, Jim! 

I'm getting excited about launching soon. October 15th is the date! I'm not considering marketing just yet, but building a collection of books to shuffle readers towards eventually. This thread is great though.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Rue Hirsch said:


> Aww, what a sweet lil baby! Congratulations, Jim!
> 
> I'm getting excited about launching soon. October 15th is the date! I'm not considering marketing just yet, but building a collection of books to shuffle readers towards eventually. This thread is great though.


Thank ya. This is largely my plan as well. I'll market to some genre-specific lists I'm an active member on, and mention the book here on kboards and my FB and so forth, but save the heavy advertising for when I have 3 episodes in the series out and available. I'm happy to do a gradual push, and I think monthly releases will help out.


----------



## J. Dane Tyler

Congratulations, Jim! Very happy for you!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Things are rolling along here. (Aside from baby and momma doing well.) Cover artist provided the latest draft of the cover and we locked that down, and I've just brought an artist on board to provide a few one-page illustrations for the print version. I'm deep into revising the first two episodes, and have targeted the weekend of Oct. 23-25 for release. I can feel the machine starting to crank up and I don't want to lose this momentum!


----------



## Reaper

Congratulations Jim! Gad things are progressing well :-D

I released my book a week ago and only now getting round to catching up on this thread... Looking forward to seeing everyone's projects come together!


----------



## Weibart

Congratulations, Jim!! Best wishes to you and your wife and your new member of your family!

Would anyone be interested in a progress thread about my process of writing and illustrating my graphic novel? Or should I just post here? I'm still in production on my first release, and I've been toying with the idea of making a thread to share some of the designs from the series and detail some of my process creating it.


----------



## JalexM

Congrats Jim!

So I have a change of plans for my serial. I was going to try to use a freebooksy ad to get it going after four weeks of no sales but instead i'm going to bundle my The Men Who Killed God serial into two books(I already have 5 of the ten episodes done) and release under my original name. But that means I have to get a custom cover so I have to hold off on some other purchases this month 
First contact bookrazor and upload it on netgalley(Which has done good for me in the past) and some other prerelease work. 
Is it a taboo to call a novel with episodic chapters a book instead of an omnibus?


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Congratulations, Jim! Super cute baby! 

I'm still plowing through the last third of my book #2 in the Ascendancy trilogy, and both can't write it fast enough & dread finishing it. If that makes any sense.

Good luck, everyone!


----------



## Adair Hart

Weibart said:


> Would anyone be interested in a progress thread about my process of writing and illustrating my graphic novel? Or should I just post here? I'm still in production on my first release, and I've been toying with the idea of making a thread to share some of the designs from the series and detail some of my process creating it.


I would be! My thought on a separate thread is it would be easier to setup notifications specific to your progress. Before I took the dive into writing back in 2013, I had worked on a CRPG and a comic series, both which never really took off, but I understood the process and wished I could draw, ink, letter, and color.  I think it would be awesome to see your process.



Matthew Stott said:


> So I'll be releasing my first book soon, and I'm wondering about paid promotion. I know many say don't head too far down that road until you have a few books out, so people have other things to move onto and buy, but thought it can't hurt to at least have a few promos set up?
> So did anyone else pay for promotions on their first release? Any places you'd give the thumbs up to for a newbie with their first book..?
> I see all the names on different threads, but having no first hand experience it just seems like a whole whirl of different places and it's difficult to know which way to go first..! Thanks.
> (oh, the book is a bit fantasy, bit spooky, think Neil Gaiman's Coraline)


I'm learning which ones to go with and what the minimum requirements are myself. I did Bknights and BargainBooksy on my first book launch early September since both didn't require a minimum review. I left it at full price (2.99), and they were my highest sale days. If I had to do it again, I would have set it up for .99 for the first week and a day and hit some more sites. I also wished that that I had spent some time tracking down reviewers and review sites for ARCs. I am doing that now to try to get reviews on my current book and hopefully ARCs for my second book out in December.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Adair Hart said:


> I'm learning which ones to go with and what the minimum requirements are myself. I did Bknights and BargainBooksy on my first book launch early September since both didn't require a minimum review. I left it at full price (2.99), and they were my highest sale days. If I had to do it again, I would have set it up for .99 for the first week and a day and hit some more sites. I also wished that that I had spent some time tracking down reviewers and review sites for ARCs. I am doing that now to try to get reviews on my current book and hopefully ARCs for my second book out in December.


Interessting, thanks!


----------



## Matthew Stott

This weekend I forward my first book to people who signed up to the mailing list. I hadn't really paid it much attention, but now suddenly realised this will be the first time a bunch of people, readers, will look at my work. eeek!


----------



## Weibart

Adair Hart said:


> I would be! My thought on a separate thread is it would be easier to setup notifications specific to your progress. Before I took the dive into writing back in 2013, I had worked on a CRPG and a comic series, both which never really took off, but I understood the process and wished I could draw, ink, letter, and color.  I think it would be awesome to see your process.


Thank you for your support, I really appreciate it! Ok cool, yeah I think I'll make a separate thread for it then! Yeah it's tricky to do all by one person, for sure. Making a graphic novel is a collaborative effort, and when you're doing it by yourself, it's definitely a learning process to refine your production process to find out what's working, how to speed up certain art tasks, etc. Excited to create a thread about it!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Matthew Stott said:


> Will do!


Thanks Matthew - just went live this morning!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Cool, nice cover again!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Well, my subscribers got something in their inbox today. Next step, release that first book...


----------



## paigemarcella

Any advice on timing promotions with release of paperback (for my first every KDP novel Compliant, which is NOT a part of a series.) I'm wondering: is sales rank is impacted by paperback sales in addition to Kindle sales? If so, it seems wise to do a good promo on my Kindle at same time. But I could be wrong. Would love some advice.

On a separate note, I ran a 3 day count-down starting Friday. Not sure if Friday was the best choice, but still gave me a good uptick in sales.

What day is best to release and promote?


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ah... I sent out my first book to the people on my mailing list yesterday, and one of them already read it and replied to me with a lovely review. First time someone I don't know has looked at it, so cool to know a stranger enjoyed it!


----------



## Maarika

What a great thread this is. I'll have to catch up and read everything.



Weibart said:


> Would anyone be interested in a progress thread about my process of writing and illustrating my graphic novel? Or should I just post here? I'm still in production on my first release, and I've been toying with the idea of making a thread to share some of the designs from the series and detail some of my process creating it.


Yes, please do make a thread, I'd love to read about your experience (and see your work) since you're the only other comic artist here right now that I know of.

I'm gonna start researching my target audience and learning more about marketing since it's clear to me that just having books on Amazon (or anywhere) doesn't automatically result in sales at all. I'm going to optimize my keywords and categories and try permafree too as soon as I can.


----------



## celadon

I have a confession to make.    

I've been working on a book for about a month now. I wanted it to be shortish (16,000 pages or so) and it was still taking a while. (It's a how-to book and I'm doing all the illustrations for it as well.) 

I was looking at the genre it's in, and seeing all these scammy 29-page books with no illustrations (and this genre HAS to have illustrations), or if the scammy book has illustrations, it has someone else's (stolen) illustrations. And yet these books are selling, or appearing to sell.

I snapped one weekend, and made a new 'quickie' ebook, at 40+ pages, thinking that it was a million times better than the scammy books, because at least I actually know what I'm talking about and can create my own content. Then I expanded the book more and more, got it edited, yadda yadda. I'm still waiting on more to be done with it, but so far it's a nice little "mini-book" (and closer to 70 pages!). It's not a scammy piece of crap, but it's shorter.

I already published it, because I'm an idiot.   But also, I wanted to know what the publishing process was like, and thought, I could get some mistakes out of the way with this mini version, and then roll out the more detailed, more thorough books (that I'm still working on) and hopefully do better with them, because I'll have learned from my newbie mistakes already.

Am I insane? Yes, I think I am. I find it weird that no one has looked at the book (well, hardly anybody) and I wonder if it's the same for every newbie? This genre has a fair share of highly ranked, popular books. I think it's a good genre, and I have some knowledge in this area. There are a lot of crappy scammy books that are clogging the system, and I hope (?) that when I can promote my book(s) that this will differentiate my work from the scammers? I hope? I will know soon enough, because I'm planning on doing the promo thing in about a week!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Matthew Stott said:


> Ah... I sent out my first book to the people on my mailing list yesterday, and one of them already read it and replied to me with a lovely review. First time someone I don't know has looked at it, so cool to know a stranger enjoyed it!


Got mine today! Will try and get through it in the next few days if I can. Let me know when you're launching and I'll give it a plug. 

On my end, sales for part 2 have been slow so far, so I'm going to run a free promo for part 1 on Thursday. I used Bknights and Book Marketing Tools for promo and put links at the end of part 1 for part 2 so hopefully that might drum up some interest. After that I'm just going to leave it and get back to writing the rest of it I'm not going to start stressing about it. Sales for part 1 are still fairly steady.


----------



## paigemarcella

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Got mine today! Will try and get through it in the next few days if I can. Let me know when you're launching and I'll give it a plug.
> 
> On my end, sales for part 2 have been slow so far, so I'm going to run a free promo for part 1 on Thursday. I used Bknights and Book Marketing Tools for promo and put links at the end of part 1 for part 2 so hopefully that might drum up some interest. After that I'm just going to leave it and get back to writing the rest of it I'm not going to start stressing about it. Sales for part 1 are still fairly steady.


Excited to hear your results, Eamon. Also what were costs of your promotions?


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

paigemarcella said:


> Excited to hear your results, Eamon. Also what were costs of your promotions?


Bknights is on Fiverr and the Book Marketing Tools submission is €14.99. A lot of people recommended Freebooksy but I'm on a pretty low budget.
I'll reveal the results on Friday


----------



## Eva Chase

One week until my first book launches. Just created the pre-order for book 2 (see signature). This is starting to feel very real. *hyperventilates*


----------



## Lucey Phillips

Eva Chase said:


> One week until my first book launches. Just created the pre-order for book 2 (see signature). This is starting to feel very real. *hyperventilates*


Good luck!!! I'll be interested to see how it goes and what you're doing for your launch. My first book will be ready by the end of the month, but I was thinking of waiting until my second book is done too ... but now I'm thinking pre-order for book 2 is a great idea.

Anyway, I get that hyperventilating feeling too whenever I think about it.


----------



## Eva Chase

Lucey Phillips said:


> Good luck!!! I'll be interested to see how it goes and what you're doing for your launch. My first book will be ready by the end of the month, but I was thinking of waiting until my second book is done too ... but now I'm thinking pre-order for book 2 is a great idea.


Thank you! I'll definitely be documenting how my launch activities go, because I've appreciated it so much when others have done that before me. 

I know some people recommend waiting until you have a few books and then publishing them very close together, but I decided I'd rather set a pace I felt I could keep up in the long term (a book every three months) rather than put out a bunch back to back and then have a long gap while I got something new together. I'm revising book 2 now and have the first draft of book 3 written, though. I was actually hoping to put book 3 up for pre-order before book 1 is out, too, to maximize the sell through... and then I realized Amazon only allows pre-orders three months in advance.


----------



## Adair Hart

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Got mine today! Will try and get through it in the next few days if I can. Let me know when you're launching and I'll give it a plug.
> 
> On my end, sales for part 2 have been slow so far, so I'm going to run a free promo for part 1 on Thursday. I used Bknights and Book Marketing Tools for promo and put links at the end of part 1 for part 2 so hopefully that might drum up some interest. After that I'm just going to leave it and get back to writing the rest of it I'm not going to start stressing about it. Sales for part 1 are still fairly steady.


Just saw you got it out! Congratulations! I liked the first one, and just picked up the second one. However I have a few other books in my queue, but it is in my TBR pile!



Lucey Phillips said:


> Good luck!!! I'll be interested to see how it goes and what you're doing for your launch. My first book will be ready by the end of the month, but I was thinking of waiting until my second book is done too ... but now I'm thinking pre-order for book 2 is a great idea.
> 
> Anyway, I get that hyperventilating feeling too whenever I think about it.


Good luck Eva and Lucey! That first week you will be all smiles  I think preorder for the second book is a great idea. I will have my cover done in the next few weeks, so can put book 2 on preorder. In my first Kindle countdown deal end of this month, I will put a note about it at the end of my first bookin the "Note from the Author" backmatter.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Got mine today! Will try and get through it in the next few days if I can. Let me know when you're launching and I'll give it a plug.
> 
> On my end, sales for part 2 have been slow so far, so I'm going to run a free promo for part 1 on Thursday. I used Bknights and Book Marketing Tools for promo and put links at the end of part 1 for part 2 so hopefully that might drum up some interest. After that I'm just going to leave it and get back to writing the rest of it I'm not going to start stressing about it. Sales for part 1 are still fairly steady.


Oh cool, thanks! (I have part 2 of yours lined up next on my Kindle!) And.... I hit publish last night!

WOO-HOO.

Well... I didn't mean to. I launched the paperback without realising that's what I'd done, so thought: 'screw it', and launched the ebook, too. No weeks of carefully planned build up and promo booking for me. I'm sure just tossing it up like this will work out just as well.... *cough*
Hey, and I already sold a copy! (Yeah... a copy I bought myself...)

The eBook is set at just 0.99 for now, and I've tried to make the paperback as affordable as possible.

Anyhoo, I suppose I've officially joined the 2015 newbie ranks. I'll be buying that solid gold toilet by the end of the year, for sure.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

Matthew Stott said:


> I hit publish last night!
> 
> WOO-HOO.


Congrats. Now you need to forget about it and get on with the next one.


----------



## Matthew Stott

geraldmkilby said:


> Congrats. Now you need to forget about it and get on with the next one.


Yup, I'll prob try a small promo or two, but want a few things out before hitting promotion too hard.


----------



## Guest

Congratulations, everyone!    (Matthew, I love your cover!)


----------



## Guest

Is it sad that I feel a little more like a "pro" now that I've had my first BookBub rejection?


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Congratulations, everyone!  (Matthew, I love your cover!)


Thanks!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Congrats Matthew! I bought a copy as well will try and get through it in the next day or two. Welcome to the fold. KDP dashboard is your new obsession


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Congrats Matthew! I bought a copy as well will try and get through it in the next day or two. Welcome to the fold. KDP dashboard is your new obsession


Oh wow, thanks very much!

I'm kinda expecting it to mostly flat line, and try and build once I've got a few titles out. But you never know...


----------



## Michael Marnier

Launched my debut novella, Trouble on the Straits, two weeks ago. Still low on the learning curve when it comes to self-pub. Set it up as Kindle Select and did a 3-day FREE promo. Interesting how addictive it becomes watching sales rank move around as buzz starts to build.  

I was feeling pretty good when I saw ranking move from the 400,000 range to ~1500. But wait, ... that was the FREE Kindle rank. It dropped like a stone once the promo ended, but things are steadily improving. Latest results:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,992 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#94 in Kindle Store>Kindle eBooks>Literature & Fiction>Action & Adventure>Sea Adventures
#125 in Kindle Store>Kindle eBooks>Mystery, Thriller & Suspense>Crime Fiction>Kidnapping
#146 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Sea Adventures

Watch for a Book Discovery placement coming this friday. It should give me a boost.


----------



## Matthew Stott

So my first book has been out there for a little over a day. Sold a few, but I'm not expeting much out of this one for a few reasons (I canabalised sales by giving 100 away, for example). One thing I am wondering about is KU. Are you supposed to do something to make that more visible...? That line on my report hasn't twitched even a little. Is it just a case that people will find it if they find it? Obviously I'd rather people bought the thing, more just curious, really..


----------



## Eva Chase

Matthew Stott said:


> So my first book has been out there for a little over a day. Sold a few, but I'm not expeting much out of this one for a few reasons (I canabalised sales by giving 100 away, for example). One thing I am wondering about is KU. Are you supposed to do something to make that more visible...? That line on my report hasn't twitched even a little. Is it just a case that people will find it if they find it? Obviously I'd rather people bought the thing, more just curious, really..


I _think_, based on things I've read here, that you make KU books more visible the same way you make books more visible in general. e.g., You run promos at sale prices which will encourage regular buyers to purchase, but some people with KU also see those promos and may check out the book (at least a couple of the promos I booked asked if my book was in KU, so I think they mention it with the listing), and if the increased sales boosts the book to the top of some category lists, that makes it more visible to KU folks just browsing after the promo ends too.

I too would be curious to know if there are techniques specifically for reaching out to KU readers!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Ugh. Messed up my Book Marketing Tools submission (didn't see the part where you have to submit to the sites yourself and too late to do it now) so that's my credit wasted, and can't see anything happening with Bknights even though they confirmed the date was ok. Looks like I'm on my own for this free promo. I'm such a noob.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Eva Chase said:


> I _think_, based on things I've read here, that you make KU books more visible the same way you make books more visible in general. e.g., You run promos at sale prices which will encourage regular buyers to purchase, but some people with KU also see those promos and may check out the book (at least a couple of the promos I booked asked if my book was in KU, so I think they mention it with the listing), and if the increased sales boosts the book to the top of some category lists, that makes it more visible to KU folks just browsing after the promo ends too.
> 
> I too would be curious to know if there are techniques specifically for reaching out to KU readers!


I'll be in the same boat in a couple weeks when I publish, but yeah, I think you need to get the word out that your book exists. Touch on forums and sites that cater to your genre and make sure your keywords are on point. As a KU user and reader, I find most of my KU books by searching keywords that interest me.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Ugh. Messed up my Book Marketing Tools submission (didn't see the part where you have to submit to the sites yourself and too late to do it now) so that's my credit wasted, and can't see anything happening with Bknights even though they confirmed the date was ok. Looks like I'm on my own for this free promo. I'm such a noob.


GAH. I just gave it a little shout out on Twitter. I just had confirmation from Bknights about my own promo, so hopefully my one will work out...


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eva Chase said:


> I _think_, based on things I've read here, that you make KU books more visible the same way you make books more visible in general. e.g., You run promos at sale prices which will encourage regular buyers to purchase, but some people with KU also see those promos and may check out the book (at least a couple of the promos I booked asked if my book was in KU, so I think they mention it with the listing), and if the increased sales boosts the book to the top of some category lists, that makes it more visible to KU folks just browsing after the promo ends too.
> 
> I too would be curious to know if there are techniques specifically for reaching out to KU readers!


Ah, that's what I thought! Just piping up in case there was something obvious that everyone else knows that I was misissing... Thanks.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Heh, my book is currently at no 18 in on this list..! I know that I've actually sold hardly anything (AT ALL) but it's still cool to be on the first page of one of these lists. 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/3662044031/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kinc_1_6_last


----------



## karalockharte

I am a total newbie as I just released this week! Thanks for this great thread which I'm slowly learning alot from!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Matthew Stott said:


> Heh, my book is currently at no 18 in on this list..! I know that I've actually sold hardly anything (AT ALL) but it's still cool to be on the first page of one of these lists.
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/3662044031/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kinc_1_6_last


That's good - gets it out there. People love browsing charts! I'm 75% through it and I have to say it's bloody brilliant. You Sir, are extremely talented.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> That's good - gets it out there. People love browsing charts! I'm 75% through it and I have to say it's bloody brilliant. You Sir, are extremely talented.


Thanks! Very nice of you to say. I'm pretty new to prose, having been used to writing scripts (and comedy scripts at that), so it's nice to know it's working for some.


----------



## paigemarcella

Working on a 0.99 promotion to go along with release of my paperback of Compliant next week.  . Or are we not supposed to say the "P" word? P as in paperback...Anyone else have experience with this? Basically, I look for any excuse to run a promotion to see what happens.

Well releasing this "P" edition and proofing it has been the bane of my existence since the proof arrived at my door last Friday. Kind of a time sink and not really my cup of tea. However, it has helped me catch a few more typos and some slight sentence structure changes... so not a complete loss. I believe my kindle edition will be much stronger because of this entire process.

I'm only doing print through CreateSpace since so many of my friends and family don't use E-readers, which boggles my mind. What would I do without my Kindle app on my phone during my commute from Oakland to SF?


----------



## damienboyes

It's funny to think that, say five years ago, we'd all be querying agents and submitting to slush piles and waiting for the rejection slips to arrive instead of gearing up to hit "publish." Amazing what can change in so little time.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Morning all. Free promo day went really well, over 560 copies downloaded which is not too shabby, considering my marketing mess-ups. Sales of part 2 starting to rise and it has hit #7 in its category. Very happy indeed. Lots of help from my author friends too, so thanks to everybody who checked it out.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Morning all. Free promo day went really well, over 560 copies downloaded which is not too shabby, considering my marketing mess-ups. Sales of part 2 starting to rise and it has hit #7 in its category. Very happy indeed. Lots of help from my author friends too, so thanks to everybody who checked it out.


Sounds pretty great to me!

I think, once my KU time is up (not sure what it's doing for me, being exclusive)(Certainly no one has read a page through KU as of yet) I might go wide with my first book and just make it free...


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

I find that KU usually takes a few days to kick in. I know a lot of people here preach permafree, but I'm not a big fan of it to be honest, especially with high quality product, which I would consider your book being. Run a few free days and see how you go. I've found this morning that sales are actually up on book one after the free promo. It got me a few more reviews as well.


----------



## celadon

Very scary! I bought a promo from BKnights, scheduled for Monday. I have no idea what to expect.  

My preferred price for this book is $2.99, but for the BKnights promo, I lowered it to 1.99. They said in their gig description that 0.99 or 1.99 was preferred for their "paid book" gigs. (So many of their gigs are for freebies only.) So, what could I do? I lowered the price.

The file size on this book is so large (17 MB) that the 0.99 price was not an option. 

I'll be interested in seeing what happens with this promo.


----------



## Matthew Stott

celadon said:


> Very scary! I bought a promo from BKnights, scheduled for Monday. I have no idea what to expect.
> 
> My preferred price for this book is $2.99, but for the BKnights promo, I lowered it to 1.99. They said in their gig description that 0.99 or 1.99 was preferred for their "paid book" gigs. (So many of their gigs are for freebies only.) So, what could I do? I lowered the price.
> 
> The file size on this book is so large (17 MB) that the 0.99 price was not an option.
> 
> I'll be interested in seeing what happens with this promo.


Good luck! I think my Bknights thingy is booked for Monday, too.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> I find that KU usually takes a few days to kick in. I know a lot of people here preach permafree, but I'm not a big fan of it to be honest, especially with high quality product, which I would consider your book being. Run a few free days and see how you go. I've found this morning that sales are actually up on book one after the free promo. It got me a few more reviews as well.


Yeah, I'm definitely going to try that route first. I'm wobbling between doing too much and not enough for it at the moment, as I think any big push I do on it is going to be so much more worthwhile after I have another thing or two out. But at the same time, you naturally want to push, push, push the thing 'cos you want people to give it a go! It's not too long until my next few are out, so I'm going to try and be as patient as I can.


----------



## celadon

Matthew Stott said:


> Good luck! I think my Bknights thingy is booked for Monday, too.


Good luck to you too! I predict that you will do very well! We shall have to report on our results.

I am a mixture of anxiety and ambivalence at the moment!


----------



## Eva Chase

paigemarcella said:


> Working on a 0.99 promotion to go along with release of my paperback of Compliant next week. . Or are we not supposed to say the "P" word? P as in paperback...Anyone else have experience with this? Basically, I look for any excuse to run a promotion to see what happens.


You mean you're putting your ebook on sale to promote the paperback release? I'd be interested to see how you find that works out! I can see how getting the book higher on category lists might help it catch the attention of people who'd prefer a print book as well as ebook readers, but haven't seen anyone report on that here in the forums. 

I have a paperback set up through Createspace for my upcoming release, mainly because it cost me nothing to do so, and I get something like a $3 royalty on any pb sale through Amazon... so even if I only sell a few copies, it's some nice pocket change.


----------



## paigemarcella

Eva Chase said:


> You mean you're putting your ebook on sale to promote the paperback release? I'd be interested to see how you find that works out! I can see how getting the book higher on category lists might help it catch the attention of people who'd prefer a print book as well as ebook readers, but haven't seen anyone report on that here in the forums.
> 
> I have a paperback set up through Createspace for my upcoming release, mainly because it cost me nothing to do so, and I get something like a $3 royalty on any pb sale through Amazon... so even if I only sell a few copies, it's some nice pocket change.


I realized I can't run a 0.99 promotion like I wanted, since I ran a count-down within this same enrollment period, and now I wish I had waited. Can you run a free promotion and a countdown promotion within the same KDP enrollment period? (not at same time, of course)

How do you feel about a free promotion of my novel when it's my only work published thus far? It kind of feel like I'm dying a small death just thinking about it. But maybe it would get my KU reads up again.

Either way, I'll let you know what ebook marketing I do with paperback release along with results afterwards. Who know


----------



## Matthew Stott

celadon said:


> Good luck to you too! I predict that you will do very well! We shall have to report on our results.
> 
> I am a mixture of anxiety and ambivalence at the moment!


I also booked a Bargain Booksy promo for this weekend, so that'll be my first real go at a promo. Interested to see how it will go... Well, at the moment if it means I shift even two books I'll consider it a success..!


----------



## Guest

paigemarcella said:


> I realized I can't run a 0.99 promotion like I wanted, since I ran a count-down within this same enrollment period, and now I wish I had waited. Can you run a free promotion and a countdown promotion within the same KDP enrollment period? (not at same time, of course)
> 
> How do you feel about a free promotion of my novel when it's my only work published thus far? It kind of feel like I'm dying a small death just thinking about it. But maybe it would get my KU reads up again.
> 
> Either way, I'll let you know what ebook marketing I do with paperback release along with results afterwards. Who know


No, you can only do one or the other in each 90 day period. Personally, when it's your only book out I wouldn't bother with a free promotion. Free promos seem to be best when you have either a series and are trying to get people hooked with the first book (and you have at least book 2 out or on preorder) or you have a large enough stable of works you can afford to just give one away free. I'd focus on the next book(s) out, getting reviews, and do regular countdown promos once a quarter or so.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> I also booked a Bargain Booksy promo for this weekend, so that'll be my first real go at a promo. Interested to see how it will go... Well, at the moment if it means I shift even two books I'll consider it a success..!


Good luck with it. Bargain Booksy was not as powerful for me as Freebooksy, but I wish you good luck with it.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Good luck with it. Bargain Booksy was not as powerful for me as Freebooksy, but I wish you good luck with it.


Thanks! I'll definitely try freebooksy in the next few weeks, when I take advantage of some free days.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Thanks! I'll definitely try freebooksy in the next few weeks, when I take advantage of some free days.


Freebooksy is excellent, but if you have the time, report back with your Bargain Booksy results.


----------



## Guest

Hey, newbs. Just reporting in after an amazing week. I had a promo with The Midlist (the free one.) and it shot my Hell's Belles book into the stratosphere. It got to #76 in all of the free store and the sell through on book 3 has been impressive. I know its one that's kind of hard to get it but its absolutely worth going for. So DO IT. I have also had 20 newsletter sign ups, 4 new reviews, and about a dozen new ratings on Goodreads to boot.


----------



## JalexM

BelleAC said:


> Hey, newbs. Just reporting in after an amazing week. I had a promo with The Midlist (the free one.) and it shot my Hell's Belles book into the stratosphere. It got to #76 in all of the free store and the sell through on book 3 has been impressive. I know its one that's kind of hard to get it but its absolutely worth going for. So DO IT. I have also had 20 newsletter sign ups, 4 new reviews, and about a dozen new ratings on Goodreads to boot.


Nice! Hope your sell through last for a while!


----------



## JTriptych

Less than 10 hours since my debut launch and I've got a handful of sales already. Yipeee!!!


----------



## Guest

JalexM said:


> Nice! Hope your sell through last for a while!


Thanks! Its already starting to fade out but it was many books I wouldn't have sold otherwise. Nice to get some eyeballs on my stuff. I felt like it was languishing in the bottom of a trench for a while there. I wish I could figure out how to make these tails last and the results stick longer.



JTriptych said:


> Less than 10 hours since my debut launch and I've got a handful of sales already. Yipeee!!!


That's so awesome!!! Here's to many more.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Hey, newbs. Just reporting in after an amazing week. I had a promo with The Midlist (the free one.) and it shot my Hell's Belles book into the stratosphere. It got to #76 in all of the free store and the sell through on book 3 has been impressive. I know its one that's kind of hard to get it but its absolutely worth going for. So DO IT. I have also had 20 newsletter sign ups, 4 new reviews, and about a dozen new ratings on Goodreads to boot.


Awesome, Alison! Do you see how things can change if you just keep at it?!     I'm so happy for you!!


----------



## Guest

JTriptych said:


> Less than 10 hours since my debut launch and I've got a handful of sales already. Yipeee!!!


Congrats!


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> Less than 10 hours since my debut launch and I've got a handful of sales already. Yipeee!!!


Well done! In my first few days I managed to sell a few. Around sixteen across ebook and paperback on my first day, which I was very, very happy with. Kinda fell into the toilet straight after that, though! 3 the next day, 2 the day after. Eek! (And I know my girlfriend bought it on the second day, so that doesn't count!) I have my first small promo today, testing it out, be interesting to see if it ticks up a little again.

I have yet to watch Mark Dawson's Facebook vids (hopefully this weekend) but had a quick go myself, bumbling into it. Seems like I really need those vids! So far had one person sign up after two days and £6.00 spent. Obviously a tiny amount of cash, but clearly I need to have a look at Mark's vids so I know what the heck I'm doing wrong!  I managed to get 100 people on my list before launch, so that's a good number to build from.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Matthew Stott said:


> I have my first small promo today, testing it out, be interesting to see if it ticks up a little again.


Checked my sales dashboard as the promo has now been live for a while. Hm. No positive results yet.


----------



## Cherise

Matthew Stott said:


> Checked my sales dashboard as the promo has now been live for a while. Hm. No positive results yet.


If I had a Halloween prime book like yours, I would be hitting everyone up now, in hopes of getting promo before October 31. Some places I would try:

Fussy Librarian 
Midlist
bknights
Bookbub (hey, they can only say yes if you ask)
Ereader News Today
Genre Pulse app only


----------



## Guest

Finished submitting/booking for my upcoming November promo.  

14 sites confirmed, still waiting for 14 more to confirm (though I think some of them don't send confirms since they are freebies).  Got rejected by BookBub (no surprise) and RobinReads (disappointing).  Once the last paid ones confirm and are paid, I'll have spent $400 on it @[email protected]  Here's hoping it goes way way way better than my last one...  (I'll do a separate promo post near the end of the month because I know I found them super helpful)


----------



## Matthew Stott

Cherise Kelley said:


> If I had a Halloween prime book like yours, I would be hitting everyone up now, in hopes of getting promo before October 31. Some places I would try:
> 
> Fussy Librarian
> Midlist
> bknights
> Bookbub (hey, they can only say yes if you ask)
> Ereader News Today
> Genre Pulse app only


Thanks! I have no reviews yet, so not sure what requirements some of those have, will have a peek! As of right now, the promo I've got running today has had no effect. Ah well..!


----------



## Adair Hart

BelleAC said:


> Hey, newbs. Just reporting in after an amazing week. I had a promo with The Midlist (the free one.) and it shot my Hell's Belles book into the stratosphere. It got to #76 in all of the free store and the sell through on book 3 has been impressive. I know its one that's kind of hard to get it but its absolutely worth going for. So DO IT. I have also had 20 newsletter sign ups, 4 new reviews, and about a dozen new ratings on Goodreads to boot.


Congratulations on The Midlist and Helles Belles! I checked out the review requirements and for discounted it's 20 and for free is 30. Yikes! 



JTriptych said:


> Less than 10 hours since my debut launch and I've got a handful of sales already. Yipeee!!!


Congratulations man!



Anma Natsu said:


> Finished submitting/booking for my upcoming November promo.
> 
> 14 sites confirmed, still waiting for 14 more to confirm (though I think some of them don't send confirms since they are freebies). Got rejected by BookBub (no surprise) and RobinReads (disappointing). Once the last paid ones confirm and are paid, I'll have spent $400 on it @[email protected] Here's hoping it goes way way way better than my last one... (I'll do a separate promo post near the end of the month because I know I found them super helpful)


Wow, that's a lot of sites! I did 8 for my promo first week of November, but am planning for a big one in the second week of December on Book 2's release. Good luck on your promo! I look forward to seeing your results!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Freebooksy is excellent, but if you have the time, report back with your Bargain Booksy results.


Well, this has been a flop so far, not seen any sales because of it. I know there's several hours left in the U.S., so perhaps there's still a chance of a sale or two.

Hopefully the Bknights one I'm trying on Monday day will work better.


----------



## Matthew Stott

KylieQ said:


> I'm still trying to decide whether to go exclusive with Amazon initially. I have everything set up on Kobo but couldn't decide whether to do it.


I have, though I'm not sure it's done anything for me as yet. Most people I see advise at least going exclusive initially, in the hope of getting early exposure.


----------



## Matthew Stott

I watched Mark Dawson's free vids on building your mailing list with Facebook today, and set up a new ad for myself. Hoping it'll show some results, be nice to wake up to a bunch of new mailing list subscribers!


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Awesome, Alison! Do you see how things can change if you just keep at it?!     I'm so happy for you!!


Thanks so much, Jolie! And you were right! You never know when a big wave is coming and boy is it fun to ride it in! Still seeing some good sales numbers this weekend and weekends usually aren't great for me. It reminded me to keep going! It was nice to get that boost.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Thanks so much, Jolie! And you were right! You never know when a big wave is coming and boy is it fun to ride it in! Still seeing some good sales numbers this weekend and weekends usually aren't great for me. It reminded me to keep going! It was nice to get that boost.


Yep! Keep on keeping on!  

BTW, I bought a bunch of books at a recent Facebook event, and the one I'm currently reading is *Prosperity for Writers: A Writer's Guide to Creating Abundance* by Honoree Corder.

http://www.amazon.com/Prosperity-Writers-Guide-Creating-Abundance/dp/0996186115

I think if you were to read it and do what she says, you'll never doubt that you're absolutely going to make it eventually. Give the book a read!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Jolie du Pre said:


> Yep! Keep on keeping on!
> 
> BTW, I bought a bunch of books at a recent Facebook event, and the one I'm currently reading is *Prosperity for Writers: A Writer's Guide to Creating Abundance* by Honoree Corder.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Prosperity-Writers-Guide-Creating-Abundance/dp/0996186115
> 
> I think if you were to read it and do what she says, you'll never doubt that you're absolutely going to make it eventually. Give the book a read!


Thanks for the recommendation, Jolie. I saw the book was on KU and grabbed a copy. Think I'll go settle in for some cuddle time with my newborn and give it a read!


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Thanks for the recommendation, Jolie. I saw the book was on KU and grabbed a copy. Think I'll go settle in for some cuddle time with my newborn and give it a read!


Excellent, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!


----------



## Matthew Stott

So my very first promo ran yesterday, through Bargain Booksy. I suppose some people might still look at their email today and click through, but as things stand now it seems like it was a bit of a flop for me. Looking at the ebooks I sold yesterday, I think only two came in after the promo was launched. 

Wondering if that was just bad luck, Saturday a poor promo day choice, maybe I should have gone for a larger list, like fantasy, or a combo of all of those.

I've got another one, BKnights, this Monday, so will be interesting to see if things go any better there!

No reviews yet, so I'm thinking of trying to bribe the people on my list...! Offer them my next thing, a novelette, for free in return for leaving honest review on Monstrous. Hopefully that will bring in a review or two.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> So my very first promo ran yesterday, through Bargain Booksy. I suppose some people might still look at their email today and click through, but as things stand now it seems like it was a bit of a flop for me. Looking at the ebooks I sold yesterday, I think only two came in after the promo was launched.
> 
> Wondering if that was just bad luck, Saturday a poor promo day choice, maybe I should have gone for a larger list, like fantasy, or a combo of all of those.
> 
> I've got another one, BKnights, this Monday, so will be interesting to see if things go any better there!
> 
> No reviews yet, so I'm thinking of trying to bribe the people on my list...! Offer them my next thing, a novelette, for free in return for leaving honest review on Monstrous. Hopefully that will bring in a review or two.


Bargain Booksy is not always successful for people. When I've done Bargain Booksy the results were nothing like the results I got from Freebooksy.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Bargain Booksy is not always successful for people. When I've done Bargain Booksy the results were nothing like the results I got from Freebooksy.


Ah, interesting to know! I'll def be trying Freebooksy when I take advantage of some free days later.


----------



## Eva Chase

JTriptych said:


> Less than 10 hours since my debut launch and I've got a handful of sales already. Yipeee!!!


Congrats! 



BelleAC said:


> Hey, newbs. Just reporting in after an amazing week. I had a promo with The Midlist (the free one.) and it shot my Hell's Belles book into the stratosphere. It got to #76 in all of the free store and the sell through on book 3 has been impressive. I know its one that's kind of hard to get it but its absolutely worth going for. So DO IT. I have also had 20 newsletter sign ups, 4 new reviews, and about a dozen new ratings on Goodreads to boot.


That's awesome! I definitely have The Midlist on my to-try list, just have to get the review numbers first.



Anma Natsu said:


> Finished submitting/booking for my upcoming November promo.
> 
> 14 sites confirmed, still waiting for 14 more to confirm (though I think some of them don't send confirms since they are freebies). Got rejected by BookBub (no surprise) and RobinReads (disappointing). Once the last paid ones confirm and are paid, I'll have spent $400 on it @[email protected] Here's hoping it goes way way way better than my last one... (I'll do a separate promo post near the end of the month because I know I found them super helpful)


Good luck! 14 confirmed is great! (RR said no to me too, BTW--and I didn't even try BookBub yet, heh.) It's really frustrating that so many sites don't report back whether they've picked up the book. For my launch week promo I have several like that, and they're mostly places where they asked to know the full span of sale dates, so I don't even know what day they'd promote the book if they choose to do so. *sigh*



Matthew Stott said:


> I watched Mark Dawson's free vids on building your mailing list with Facebook today, and set up a new ad for myself. Hoping it'll show some results, be nice to wake up to a bunch of new mailing list subscribers!


I was under the impression that Dawson's mailing list technique was based on offering free books in exchange for the sign-up, so I've been holding off watching those until I have a few books out (at which point I'll feel comfortable giving away the first book in the series). Is that not the case, or are you offering your new book?



Matthew Stott said:


> So my very first promo ran yesterday, through Bargain Booksy. I suppose some people might still look at their email today and click through, but as things stand now it seems like it was a bit of a flop for me. Looking at the ebooks I sold yesterday, I think only two came in after the promo was launched.


Seconding/thirding/etc. those saying that Bargainbooksy's results are iffy. I've seen enough people expressing disappointment with them that I've decided to only try them when I have multiple books for sell through *and* if I can get a discount on their price. I don't think it was your or your book's fault!



Matthew Stott said:


> No reviews yet, so I'm thinking of trying to bribe the people on my list...! Offer them my next thing, a novelette, for free in return for leaving honest review on Monstrous. Hopefully that will bring in a review or two.


Maybe someone with more experience can weigh in, but I think offering to give people something *after* they leave a review might be skirting too close to "paid reviews" territory to be safe. It's one thing to give people a free book with the understanding that you hope they'll leave a review for it, and another to say, "If I see you've left a review, I will give you this other thing you'd normally have to pay for," you know? But maybe that's actually okay.

I'd recommend looking up books similar to yours on Amazon and looking through the positive reviews for people with book blogs who've reviewed it, then go to their blog and if their review policy says they're open to requests, ask if they'd consider reading yours. You can also do this through GoodReads, though not everyone there crossposts to Amazon. Especially with a great cover like that, I think you'll find a fair number of people are open to checking it out. That's how I got all five of the reviews I have so far!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eva Chase said:


> I was under the impression that Dawson's mailing list technique was based on offering free books in exchange for the sign-up, so I've been holding off watching those until I have a few books out (at which point I'll feel comfortable giving away the first book in the series). Is that not the case, or are you offering your new book?


It does mean offering up a book, yeah. I've have just been giving away my only book, which I know will eat into sales a bit as I've given away over 100 so far...!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eva Chase said:


> Maybe someone with more experience can weigh in, but I think offering to give people something *after* they leave a review might be skirting too close to "paid reviews" territory to be safe. It's one thing to give people a free book with the understanding that you hope they'll leave a review for it, and another to say, "If I see you've left a review, I will give you this other thing you'd normally have to pay for," you know? But maybe that's actually okay.
> 
> I'd recommend looking up books similar to yours on Amazon and looking through the positive reviews for people with book blogs who've reviewed it, then go to their blog and if their review policy says they're open to requests, ask if they'd consider reading yours. You can also do this through GoodReads, though not everyone there crossposts to Amazon. Especially with a great cover like that, I think you'll find a fair number of people are open to checking it out. That's how I got all five of the reviews I have so far!


Hadn't thought of it in those terms... I think I got the idea from some podcast or other, but maybe you're right that it might be dodgy. I was planning, when I had enough subscribers, to set up a 'review team', whereby everyone involved gets all my stuff before release, on the understanding that, hopefully, they'd leave a review at some point. That does seem a normal practice for indies, I think?

I'll have a go at digging into Amazon, like you say. Boy, that's gonna be long tedious work, I fear! But it has to be done, I suppose! Thanks.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> No reviews yet, so I'm thinking of trying to bribe the people on my list...! Offer them my next thing, a novelette, for free in return for leaving honest review on Monstrous. Hopefully that will bring in a review or two.


I don't have a ton of reviews myself, just 10, but if it helps any:

* 2 came from using StoryCartel (with 12 people actually taking the book for review) - _cost $25 to list, but better percent return; and yes, it's okay to use as it is not a paid review services, just pay to list for reviewer to get for free and review; like a significantly cheaper version of NetGalley_
* 3 came from a LibraryThing giveaway of around 45 copies - _free for me, but significantly viewer returns_
* 1 came from someone I know, but she gave it a truly honest review (3 stars LOL)
* 4 came from book bloggers. I went through a ton of bloggers, helped by lists on sites like IndieView, and between March when the book was released and July, contacted some 30 bloggers or so. Of those, 7 said yes and asked for copies. 5 of them actually posted reviews, but one (Reader's Favorite) can't post them to Amazon, so it's in my editorial review.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Hadn't thought of it in those terms... I think I got the idea from some podcast or other, but maybe you're right that it might be dodgy. I was planning, when I had enough subscribers, to set up a 'review team', whereby everyone involved gets all my stuff before release, on the understanding that, hopefully, they'd leave a review at some point. That does seem a normal practice for indies, I think?
> 
> I'll have a go at digging into Amazon, like you say. Boy, that's gonna be long tedious work, I fear! But it has to be done, I suppose! Thanks.


If an ARC Team is "dodgy" then there's a lot of "dodgy" bestselling authors out there. You go to some of their websites, and they have information about how to join their ARC teams.

So, no, there's nothing wrong about an ARC Team as long as you're asking for honest reviews only. That means if one of them gives you a two star review, that should be okay.


----------



## Eva Chase

Matthew Stott said:


> Hadn't thought of it in those terms... I think I got the idea from some podcast or other, but maybe you're right that it might be dodgy. I was planning, when I had enough subscribers, to set up a 'review team', whereby everyone involved gets all my stuff before release, on the understanding that, hopefully, they'd leave a review at some point. That does seem a normal practice for indies, I think?
> 
> I'll have a go at digging into Amazon, like you say. Boy, that's gonna be long tedious work, I fear! But it has to be done, I suppose! Thanks.


Oh, I definitely don't think there's any issue with having a review team or similar! It's totally normal to offer your books to people with a request that they review. It's the offering a different story as a reward after the review is up that feels off to me. (Which doesn't mean no one does it.)

And I didn't find digging through Amazon was that time consuming. A few tips: Focus on books that are relatively recent releases--within the last year or two. You'll probably have the best luck using indie titles, because then you know for sure the reviewer is open to them. Sort the reviews by date (newest first) and filter it by positive reviews (which will give you only 4 and 5 stars). Then skim through the list and check the profile of anyone who has left a review of a decent length (at least a paragraph) and has a name that sounds like a blog or mentions being part of a blog, rather than just "Joe Smith" or whatever. I'd just open all of them in a new tab until I had a whole bunch and then flip through them. You can tell at a glance whether they have contact info available--if they've included a link to a blog, you'll see it under their picture on the left side. At the blog, there will usually be a review policy page that stats clearly whether they're current open to requests and how to make one either in their main menu options or under a heading like "about" or "policies".

I emphasize looking for new reviews because there's a lot of turn over in the book blogging world, and someone who was reviewing two or three years ago may not have posted anything in months. I generally look at reviews from the last year only; saves some wasted time.

You'll get a little better return in terms of number of active bloggers per profile checked with GoodReads, but the downside as I mentioned is that many of those reviewers don't post to Amazon, so if you're specifically wanting Amazon reviews, better to start with the people who definitely post them.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Anma Natsu said:


> I don't have a ton of reviews myself, just 10, but if it helps any:
> 
> * 2 came from using StoryCartel (with 12 people actually taking the book for review) - _cost $25 to list, but better percent return; and yes, it's okay to use as it is not a paid review services, just pay to list for reviewer to get for free and review; like a significantly cheaper version of NetGalley_
> * 3 came from a LibraryThing giveaway of around 45 copies - _free for me, but significantly viewer returns_
> * 1 came from someone I know, but she gave it a truly honest review (3 stars LOL)
> * 4 came from book bloggers. I went through a ton of bloggers, helped by lists on sites like IndieView, and between March when the book was released and July, contacted some 30 bloggers or so. Of those, 7 said yes and asked for copies. 5 of them actually posted reviews, but one (Reader's Favorite) can't post them to Amazon, so it's in my editorial review.


Thanks!  Not heard of some of those thing so i will investigate!



Jolie du Pre said:


> If an ARC Team is "dodgy" then there's a lot of "dodgy" bestselling authors out there. You go to some of their websites, and they have information about how to join their ARC teams.
> 
> So, no, there's nothing wrong about an ARC Team as long as you're asking for honest reviews only. That means if one of them gives you a two star review, that should be okay.


Yeah, that's what i thought. Good to know. 



Eva Chase said:


> Oh, I definitely don't think there's any issue with having a review team or similar! It's totally normal to offer your books to people with a request that they review. It's the offering a different story as a reward after the review is up that feels off to me. (Which doesn't mean no one does it.)
> 
> And I didn't find digging through Amazon was that time consuming. A few tips: Focus on books that are relatively recent releases--within the last year or two. You'll probably have the best luck using indie titles, because then you know for sure the reviewer is open to them. Sort the reviews by date (newest first) and filter it by positive reviews (which will give you only 4 and 5 stars). Then skim through the list and check the profile of anyone who has left a review of a decent length (at least a paragraph) and has a name that sounds like a blog or mentions being part of a blog, rather than just "Joe Smith" or whatever. I'd just open all of them in a new tab until I had a whole bunch and then flip through them. You can tell at a glance whether they have contact info available--if they've included a link to a blog, you'll see it under their picture on the left side. At the blog, there will usually be a review policy page that stats clearly whether they're current open to requests and how to make one either in their main menu options or under a heading like "about" or "policies".
> 
> I emphasize looking for new reviews because there's a lot of turn over in the book blogging world, and someone who was reviewing two or three years ago may not have posted anything in months. I generally look at reviews from the last year only; saves some wasted time.
> 
> You'll get a little better return in terms of number of active bloggers per profile checked with GoodReads, but the downside as I mentioned is that many of those reviewers don't post to Amazon, so if you're specifically wanting Amazon reviews, better to start with the people who definitely post them.


Wow, thanks a bunch for the helpful info!

One of these days I'll have helpful info to pass on to others, rather than just hoovering it all up for myself..!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Hm, didn't sell a copy yesterday, but my ranking seems to have gone up 30,000 places. That's a good trick, Amazon!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ok, BargainBooksy was a flop, let's see how my BKnights one does today! No idea where to look to see them promoting it, though..?


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> Ok, BargainBooksy was a flop, let's see how my BKnights one does today! No idea where to look to see them promoting it, though..?


Ouch! What happened? 

I'll be using bknights too sometime next week. Crossing my fingers hoping for some success...


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> Ouch! What happened?


Not sure, I've heard since it can be very hit and miss.... definitely a miss for me! I saw two sales after promo went live, perhaps they came from the promo, perhaps not. Either way I was hopeful of a slightly better result..!


----------



## Matthew Stott

On the plus side, a couple of known people on Twitter RT my offer of a free book, and my phone is currently going crazy as people take me up on the offer. Which is nice! Who likes money anyway?!


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Hm, didn't sell a copy yesterday, but my ranking seems to have gone up 30,000 places. That's a good trick, Amazon!


You probably had a KU borrow then


----------



## celadon

Matthew Stott said:


> Not sure, I've heard since it can be very hit and miss.... definitely a miss for me! I saw two sales after promo went live, perhaps they came from the promo, perhaps not. Either way I was hopeful of a slightly better result..!


I'm glad it wasn't just me. Only I'm not glad. It's a pity. I only got two sales as well from BKnights.

I know part of my problem was that my book was $1.99. (I can't get it any lower than that, because of its large file size.) But damn! Only two sales! I did get a borrow just now, but not that impressive. My sales rank has improved a little bit.


----------



## Matthew Stott

celadon said:


> I'm glad it wasn't just me. Only I'm not glad. It's a pity. I only got two sales as well from BKnights.
> 
> I know part of my problem was that my book was $1.99. (I can't get it any lower than that, because of its large file size.) But damn! Only two sales! I did get a borrow just now, but not that impressive. My sales rank has improved a little bit.


BAH. Sorry to hear that. My Bknights promo was yesterday, and I did a little better than you, but only just, with 4 eBook sales. It's surprising how far you can jump in rankings with so few sales, though.

Now, I don't know whether I'll do any further paid promos until I have more titles out. I know more experienced writers usually say it's better to push once you have a few books, and I'll have a nother couple of things out over the next month or so, so not too long a wait.

Then again I might end up doing further promos anyway! It's hard to stop yourself trying to do the best for your little, defenceless book. 

One potentially positive thing is doing Lead Gen ads on Facebook. It does mean having to offer a free book (and you do have to pay at least a few pounds a day), but I started properly yesterday, and have already had 9 new sign-ups to my mailing list. Looks like it could be a winner.


----------



## Matthew Stott

AHH! After my book being out for almost a week without a review, I click on Amazon to see two reviews have popped up at the same time! And they're both super nice! *Does the I-Got-Reviewd Dance*


----------



## Guest

celadon said:


> I'm glad it wasn't just me. Only I'm not glad. It's a pity. I only got two sales as well from BKnights.
> 
> I know part of my problem was that my book was $1.99. (I can't get it any lower than that, because of its large file size.) But damn! Only two sales! I did get a borrow just now, but not that impressive. My sales rank has improved a little bit.


The only reason is because your book is not a romance book or a book in some other popular genre. That's the only reason.

Your art book is wonderful, and I'll recommend it to one of my artist friends.  Perhaps she knows some people who would be interested.


----------



## JTriptych

I'm beginning to realize that as a newbie this will be a long hard road since my book is barely out and Ive got no fanbase to speak of so miniscule sales. I think the only way I can start making better sales is to keep churning out books. This will be a long hard slog...


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> I'm beginning to realize that as a newbie this will be a long hard road since my book is barely out and Ive got no fanbase to speak of so miniscule sales. I think the only way I can start making better sales is to keep churning out books. This will be a long hard slog...


Chin up! I think we all hope that something magical will happen and our book will take off. I deluded myself into thinking my book would do much better than it has so far...! Best thing to do is try to build a platform/mailing list, and yeah, put out more books, that's the most important thing. The more you have, the better and more effective marketing and promos you can do.


----------



## Adair Hart

JTriptych said:


> I'm beginning to realize that as a newbie this will be a long hard road since my book is barely out and Ive got no fanbase to speak of so miniscule sales. I think the only way I can start making better sales is to keep churning out books. This will be a long hard slog...


Hang in there man! I launched last month and am in the same boat. As others have pointed out, getting the next book out opens a lot of doors. One thing I plan to do outside of my second book coming out in December, is wrap up a novella that I can give away for free in facebook ads to bolster my mailing list. I will be slogging with you through these newbilicious days!


----------



## Eva Chase

JTriptych said:


> I'm beginning to realize that as a newbie this will be a long hard road since my book is barely out and Ive got no fanbase to speak of so miniscule sales. I think the only way I can start making better sales is to keep churning out books. This will be a long hard slog...


Yeah, I'm finding it hard not to be impatient for that future point when I have the whole series released and can be marketing with lots of potential sell through plus working on a new one.  But hey, we're all in the same boat.

I like that whenever I check my book's pages, I always see fellow KBoaders in the "Also Viewed" (and hopefully soon "Also Bought"). Shows we're all checking out each other's stories.


----------



## celadon

Jolie du Pre said:


> The only reason is because your book is not a romance book or a book in some other popular genre. That's the only reason.
> 
> Your art book is wonderful, and I'll recommend it to one of my artist friends.  Perhaps she knows some people who would be interested.


Wow, thank you, you are so generous!  That is such a sweet, encouraging thing to say. KBoards is the best! 

I realize that I'm in a different boat because I am writing non-fiction. I don't expect the big bucks right away!

I've got another art book almost done (I need to do more drawings for it). It would be great if I could get it out by the end of the month. (We shall see.) I do have a series of books planned, but there's a limit to how many art books one can produce. But, I'm going to do my best! Certainly I can do more than two books!

Thank you so much again for your encouraging words.

(BTW, I added the little badge for "1-10 sales a day" to my sig because, at least for this little time, I have made that. Two sales yesterday, one sale-so far-today! Woot!  )


----------



## Guest

celadon said:


> Wow, thank you, you are so generous!  That is such a sweet, encouraging thing to say. KBoards is the best!


You're welcome! I already shared it on her Facebook wall, and she's already shared it to her friends. No guarantees of a sale, of course, but I figured it was worth a try.



> I've got another art book almost done (I need to do more drawings for it). It would be great if I could get it out by the end of the month. (We shall see.) I do have a series of books planned, but there's a limit to how many art books one can produce. But, I'm going to do my best! Certainly I can do more than two books!


Get enough books out there and continue to promote, and you'll find your audience. It may take longer than if you were to place a naked male torso on your cover, but there are over 7 billion people in the world. You can find them if you work hard enough. 



> (BTW, I added the little badge for "1-10 sales a day" to my sig because, at least for this little time, I have made that. Two sales yesterday, one sale-so far-today! Woot!  )


Congrats!!!


----------



## celadon

Jolie du Pre said:


> You're welcome! I already shared it on her Facebook wall, and she's already shared it to her friends. No guarantees of a sale, of course, but I figured it was worth a try.
> 
> Get enough books out there and continue to promote, and you'll find your audience. It may take longer than if you were to place a naked male torso on your cover, but there are over 7 billion people in the world. You can find them if you work hard enough.
> 
> Congrats!!!


Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I think your Facebook share is responsible for my sale for today! You are the best. KBoards is the best!

I will keep on working. You're right, I will find my audience if I don't give up!


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> Chin up! I think we all hope that something magical will happen and our book will take off. I deluded myself into thinking my book would do much better than it has so far...! Best thing to do is try to build a platform/mailing list, and yeah, put out more books, that's the most important thing. The more you have, the better and more effective marketing and promos you can do.





Adair Hart said:


> Hang in there man! I launched last month and am in the same boat. As others have pointed out, getting the next book out opens a lot of doors. One thing I plan to do outside of my second book coming out in December, is wrap up a novella that I can give away for free in facebook ads to bolster my mailing list. I will be slogging with you through these newbilicious days!





Eva Chase said:


> Yeah, I'm finding it hard not to be impatient for that future point when I have the whole series released and can be marketing with lots of potential sell through plus working on a new one.  But hey, we're all in the same boat.
> 
> I like that whenever I check my book's pages, I always see fellow KBoaders in the "Also Viewed" (and hopefully soon "Also Bought"). Shows we're all checking out each other's stories.


Thanks for the support everybody! I'm not really depressed, rather I just realized that I can't sit on my laurels and relax but instead I need to double my efforts now. The good news is I'm halfway done (about 50K words) on my second MS for the first book in a post-apocalyptic trilogy.

I feel I'm getting to know my fellow newbies and good luck to all of us!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Had the thing I'm releasing next back from my editor today, and she said some really lovely stuff, so that's put me in a pretty good mood. Because I'm trying to make things as tricky for myself as possible, I'm following up a book aimed mostly at younger readers, with a 13000 word novelette for grown ups.


----------



## EliciaHyder

This thread makes me want to do a happy dance! I love seeing the successes of others and so many authors willing to share their experiences! 

I sort of belly-flopped into self-publishing back in May with NO planning, NO platform, NO promotion and NO CLUE as to what I was doing. I was diagnosed with cancer in Feb and it was snap decision because I was afraid I might die and never see my books published. The book did shockingly (to me) well and I've since released a pre-quel which is on its way to perma-free. I've got the first of a new series coming out in less than a month, so I'm here soaking up all this awesome advice.

Thanks to you guys, I just booked my first BKnights promo. Can't wait to see how it goes!

Oh... and--in case you're worried--I'm "No Evidence of Disease" now with Lymphoma and hopefully it will never come back!


----------



## Jim Johnson

I love reading everyone's stories here! My newborn is three weeks old today and I'm somehow more productive working around his care and taking care of mommy. I'm running out of things to do on my checklist and I think I'm a couple weeks away from releasing the first two books in my series (one release and one pre-order) in ebook. The print versions will follow a little later and I'm thinking about audiobooks for 2016. Crazy!

Hope everyone is doing well. Keep posting your inspiring stuff!


----------



## Guest

EliciaHyder said:


> This thread makes me want to do a happy dance! I love seeing the successes of others and so many authors willing to share their experiences!
> 
> I sort of belly-flopped into self-publishing back in May with NO planning, NO platform, NO promotion and NO CLUE as to what I was doing. I was diagnosed with cancer in Feb and it was snap decision because I was afraid I might die and never see my books published. The book did shockingly (to me) well and I've since released a pre-quel which is on its way to perma-free. I've got the first of a new series coming out in less than a month, so I'm here soaking up all this awesome advice.
> 
> Thanks to you guys, I just booked my first BKnights promo. Can't wait to see how it goes!
> 
> Oh... and--in case you're worried--I'm "No Evidence of Disease" now with Lymphoma and hopefully it will never come back!


I am SO DAMN HAPPY to hear you're in the No Evidence of Disease Club and I hope you stay there forever! And how awesome you're doing even better than you thought you would. Wow. Keep coming here and learning. It sounds like you're doing a whole bunch of right. Keep going! And keep being healthy!


----------



## Matthew Stott

EliciaHyder said:


> Oh... and--in case you're worried--I'm "No Evidence of Disease" now with Lymphoma and hopefully it will never come back!


Congrats!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Kinda sad how much of an exciting jolt it was to see that blue report line for KENP pages read move for the first time...! Only 5 pages read, but still... Heh.
I guess if it stays at five, I know what they thought of the book!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ooh, my book is a Top 3 Pick on the Ebook lister front page today, I see. Wonder of that gets much traffic...


----------



## Guest

EliciaHyder said:


> This thread makes me want to do a happy dance! I love seeing the successes of others and so many authors willing to share their experiences!
> 
> I sort of belly-flopped into self-publishing back in May with NO planning, NO platform, NO promotion and NO CLUE as to what I was doing. I was diagnosed with cancer in Feb and it was snap decision because I was afraid I might die and never see my books published. The book did shockingly (to me) well and I've since released a pre-quel which is on its way to perma-free. I've got the first of a new series coming out in less than a month, so I'm here soaking up all this awesome advice.
> 
> Thanks to you guys, I just booked my first BKnights promo. Can't wait to see how it goes!
> 
> Oh... and--in case you're worried--I'm "No Evidence of Disease" now with Lymphoma and hopefully it will never come back!


Hello! I'm happy to read that you're healthier now. Cancer is such a horrible disease.


----------



## EliciaHyder

Thanks everyone! I'm soooo thankful for my health! And SO HAPPY to be here!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Holy crap on a cracker, I've been accepted on Book Bub...  

My first go at it, so I wasn't expecting that..! I can only imagine it's because I chose the free option, so I'll have to set my book to free for a day or two on Amazon, and also that, rather than choose something like Fantasy, I went for a kids category. If I'd tried an ad for a paid book, on a bigger list, I don't imagine I'd have been chosen. Not with only 3 reviews.

So.

Yeah.

A Bit thrilled!

I know being on a kids list means it won't have quite the same effect as it would on an adult list, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the download numbers...!


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

Congratulations! That's fabulous.


----------



## JalexM

Matthew Stott said:


> Holy crap on a cracker, I've been accepted on Book Bub...
> 
> My first go at it, so I wasn't expecting that..! I can only imagine it's because I chose the free option, so I'll have to set my book to free for a day or two on Amazon, and also that, rather than choose something like Fantasy, I went for a kids category. If I'd tried an ad for a paid book, on a bigger list, I don't imagine I'd have been chosen. Not with only 3 reviews.
> 
> So.
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> A Bit thrilled!
> 
> I know being on a kids list means it won't have quite the same effect as it would on an adult list, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the download numbers...!


I won't lie i'm envious


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

EliciaHyder said:


> This thread makes me want to do a happy dance! I love seeing the successes of others and so many authors willing to share their experiences!
> 
> I sort of belly-flopped into self-publishing back in May with NO planning, NO platform, NO promotion and NO CLUE as to what I was doing. I was diagnosed with cancer in Feb and it was snap decision because I was afraid I might die and never see my books published. The book did shockingly (to me) well and I've since released a pre-quel which is on its way to perma-free. I've got the first of a new series coming out in less than a month, so I'm here soaking up all this awesome advice.
> 
> Thanks to you guys, I just booked my first BKnights promo. Can't wait to see how it goes!
> 
> Oh... and--in case you're worried--I'm "No Evidence of Disease" now with Lymphoma and hopefully it will never come back!
> 
> Woohoo! So happy you're disease-free Elicia. It sounds like you're doing everything you're supposed to be doing. Good luck!


----------



## Eva Chase

Congrats, Matthew, that's awesome! Gives me hope--I'm planning on attempting BookBub for the first time around the release of book 2.


----------



## Matthew Stott

GhostGirlWriter said:


> Congratulations! That's fabulous.


Thanks!



JalexM said:


> I won't lie i'm envious


Heh, I don't blame you. It must be down to the free aspect and going for a smaller list choice. I imagine other categories are really difficult to get in to.



Eva Chase said:


> Congrats, Matthew, that's awesome! Gives me hope--I'm planning on attempting BookBub for the first time around the release of book 2.


Ta! I only did it on a whim when having a look at Book Bub for the first time. I suppose I'm going to have to get the second in the series up as a pre-order at least to try and make the most of it.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Holy crap on a cracker, I've been accepted on Book Bub...
> 
> My first go at it, so I wasn't expecting that..! I can only imagine it's because I chose the free option, so I'll have to set my book to free for a day or two on Amazon, and also that, rather than choose something like Fantasy, I went for a kids category. If I'd tried an ad for a paid book, on a bigger list, I don't imagine I'd have been chosen. Not with only 3 reviews.
> 
> So.
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> A Bit thrilled!
> 
> I know being on a kids list means it won't have quite the same effect as it would on an adult list, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the download numbers...!


Awesome!! Congratulations!   Can you get a second book up before the Bookbub ad? Or, at least soon after the ad?


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Awesome!! Congratulations!   Can you get a second book up before the Bookbub ad? Or, at least soon after the ad?


THANKS.

It's Nov 5th, by which time I'll have a wee novelette out, but that's for an older audience, really. But I suppose it'll get some people trying it anyway. Might creep smaller people out a bit much, though..! My second in this series will be out in the second half of November, no way I can get it up sooner, so I think I'll put it up as a pre-order to try and take advantage of the Bub promo.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Checking out the pre-order thing, it seems like you have to have your final book in 10 days or so before the date you set the pre-order for. To take full advantage of the ad I don't want to have the pre-order date too far in the future, which mean things are gonna be frantic trying to get the thing finalised...!


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Holy crap on a cracker, I've been accepted on Book Bub...
> 
> My first go at it, so I wasn't expecting that..! I can only imagine it's because I chose the free option, so I'll have to set my book to free for a day or two on Amazon, and also that, rather than choose something like Fantasy, I went for a kids category. If I'd tried an ad for a paid book, on a bigger list, I don't imagine I'd have been chosen. Not with only 3 reviews.
> 
> So.
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> A Bit thrilled!
> 
> I know being on a kids list means it won't have quite the same effect as it would on an adult list, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the download numbers...!


This is awesome. My advice: Publish something else before that BB hits! Otherwise, congrats!


----------



## Cherise

Matthew Stott said:


> Holy crap on a cracker, I've been accepted on Book Bub...
> 
> My first go at it, so I wasn't expecting that..! I can only imagine it's because I chose the free option, so I'll have to set my book to free for a day or two on Amazon, and also that, rather than choose something like Fantasy, I went for a kids category. If I'd tried an ad for a paid book, on a bigger list, I don't imagine I'd have been chosen. Not with only 3 reviews.
> 
> So.
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> A Bit thrilled!
> 
> I know being on a kids list means it won't have quite the same effect as it would on an adult list, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the download numbers...!


Congratulations!

See if you can get a sequel out before your ad runs, so they have something to buy from you after they read the freebie. Make sure to put a link in the back of the freebie to the sequel. Next best, put the sequel on pre-order and link in the back of the freebie.

At least link to your mailing list sign-up in the back of the freebie before Bookbub.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> This is awesome. My advice: Publish something else before that BB hits! Otherwise, congrats!





Cherise Kelley said:


> Congratulations!
> 
> See if you can get a sequel out before your ad runs, so they have something to buy from you after they read the freebie. Make sure to put a link in the back of the freebie to the sequel. Next best, put the sequel on pre-order and link in the back of the freebie.
> 
> At least link to your mailing list sign-up in the back of the freebie before Bookbub.


Thanks! 

Yeah, Ill have mailing list sign ups, and a novelette out before it hits. Won't have time to get the next in this series out, as it doesn't even go to my editor until a couple of days after the ad hits, but I will make sure to get a pre-order up so I can link to it. I really didn't expect to get chosen, applying was a whim to go through the process, so I could really be better set up to try and take advantage of this..! gah. Going to be very interesting whatever happens.


----------



## AldersleyChase

Hi everyone!  

Another newbie here just saying hello and a big thank you for all the amazing advice I've picked up from kboards over the last few months.  It's great that everyone here is willing to share their tips and stories and a huge motivation to those like me just starting out.

Matthew - congrats on the bookbub, have heard it's really hard to get into so that's awesome news.  I love your cover by the way!  Hope it goes well for you, would be great to hear an update after it's run


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Matthew Stott said:


> Holy crap on a cracker, I've been accepted on Book Bub...
> 
> My first go at it, so I wasn't expecting that..! I can only imagine it's because I chose the free option, so I'll have to set my book to free for a day or two on Amazon, and also that, rather than choose something like Fantasy, I went for a kids category. If I'd tried an ad for a paid book, on a bigger list, I don't imagine I'd have been chosen. Not with only 3 reviews.
> 
> So.
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> A Bit thrilled!
> 
> I know being on a kids list means it won't have quite the same effect as it would on an adult list, but I'm really looking forward to seeing the download numbers...!


CONGRATS! Oh, I'm so curious what happens! Please post updates!

Do you have a cover for your pre-order already, or are you scrambling to get one done asap?

*so exciting*


----------



## Matthew Stott

Veronica Sicoe said:


> CONGRATS! Oh, I'm so curious what happens! Please post updates!
> 
> Do you have a cover for your pre-order already, or are you scrambling to get one done asap?
> 
> *so exciting*


THANKS.

And yup, thankfully I have this cover for the pre-order on the second book all ready to go!


----------



## Guest

Love your covers, Matthew!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Love your covers, Matthew!


Thanks! I got lucky running a 99 Designs competition.


----------



## Adair Hart

AldersleyChase said:


> Hi everyone!
> 
> Another newbie here just saying hello and a big thank you for all the amazing advice I've picked up from kboards over the last few months. It's great that everyone here is willing to share their tips and stories and a huge motivation to those like me just starting out.
> 
> Matthew - congrats on the bookbub, have heard it's really hard to get into so that's awesome news. I love your cover by the way! Hope it goes well for you, would be great to hear an update after it's run


Welcome Aldersley!



Matthew Stott said:


> THANKS.
> 
> And yup, thankfully I have this cover for the pre-order on the second book all ready to go!


Sweet cover Matthew, and congratulations on the Bookbub!


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Matthew Stott said:


> THANKS.
> 
> And yup, thankfully I have this cover for the pre-order on the second book all ready to go!


Your covers are GOLD!

Good luck with that ad!! *fingers crossed*


----------



## Matthew Stott

Thanks to both above!

To try and take advantage a little more, I've booked a Freebooksy promo for a couple of days after the Bookbub. I thought it would give the whole thing an extra big punch right before it reverts back to paid. Then, hopefully, that will result in good things for a while after, even if that just means lots of mailing list sign ups.

As my second in series won't be out in time, I'll just have it on pre-order, I'm thinking, on the advice of my editor, of not just putting links to the pre-order at the front and back, but also the opening chapter to try and hook in a few more.


----------



## Matthew Stott

After a very flat blue line for KU pages read since launch, I just had a look and it seems at least one person with KU actually read the thing! I may not have sold a single copy today, but I know at least one person actually read it.


----------



## Guest

May I suggest maybe also doing a BKNights BEFORE the BB? There's the theory that its better to have a slightly gradual increase in downloads to keep the rank longer. 

That second cover is amazing!


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> May I suggest maybe also doing a BKNights BEFORE the BB? There's the theory that its better to have a slightly gradual increase in downloads to keep the rank longer.
> 
> That second cover is amazing!


Thanks!

I hadn't thought of that, yeah, might be good to try something just before. I've had a Bknights already though (moved a mighty 4 copies) so will have to take a look at the best remaining options as I don't think you can do it again so soon. Thanks for the idea!


----------



## JalexM

Started the process of getting two book covers for The Men Who Killed God and book 1.5 of my In A Universe Without Stars series.
I'm super excited because I love good covers. 
My semi sequel to my first book is still at the editor because he had to hand edit it for a reason but I'm not worried.
The Men Who Killed God would be my second major release of the year so I want to go all out on it.


----------



## Matthew Stott

JalexM said:


> Started the process of getting two book covers for The Men Who Killed God and book 1.5 of my In A Universe Without Stars series.
> I'm super excited because I love good covers.
> My semi sequel to my first book is still at the editor because he had to hand edit it for a reason but I'm not worried.
> The Men Who Killed God would be my second major release of the year so I want to go all out on it.


Good stuff! The cover you currently have there is really, really strong.

I just received the cover for my next release, a very spooky novelette, and I'm more than a little pleased with it. Getting new covers is just very exciting!

I think I'm going to put this next one up for Halloween week, see if that helps it out.


----------



## JalexM

Matthew Stott said:


> Good stuff! The cover you currently have there is really, really strong.
> 
> I just received the cover for my next release, a very spooky novelette, and I'm more than a little pleased with it. Getting new covers is just very exciting!
> 
> I think I'm going to put this next one up for Halloween week, see if that helps it out.


Thanks! I want to continue the trend.
I saw your other cover in an another thread and they look nice.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Started trying to build a campaign around the BookBub. I've, hopefully, booked in a Genre Pulse ad for the day before BookBub, whilst the book will still be a paid item. On my 3rd free day, so two days after Bookbub, I've got a Freebooksy, to give it an extra big punch just before the book reverts to paid. Thinking of putting something else before the Genre Pulse ad and after the Freebooksy, too... Perhaps find a few free ad places to dot around all this paid ad stuff too. My Credit Card is getting a right beating this week...!

The hope in doing this is that it won't just be one big hit and then back to normal, but a more sustained campaign will help trigger the Amazon algos more and keep the book super visible, giving it the best possible chance of more long-term success.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Oops. Am dumb. After being given the final files for my new front cover and paying the designer, then placing the cover on my site (and on here) and Twitter, I realised a little quote that I've had placed on the front cover was, uhh, wrong. I have a little rhyme that opens the book, and I messed up the lines I gave to my designer...

GAH.

Luckily, rather than have to pull the covers down, and go back to the designer and bother him, I was able to just edit my little rhyme so it now works with what's on the cover.

Lesson: Always triple check everything!


----------



## JTriptych

What I need to do is stop paying for ads and concentrate on putting out more work- I keep getting suckered into buying ads which only give me a handful of sales. I need to just put all marketing on hold and concentrate on getting more books out.

I think its obvious now why the ads I paid for aren't working like what the others here have done with theirs- everyone has been at this longer than I have and they have more books out. I think I will just need to keep writing and wait for more exposure instead of spending for ads left and right and getting minimal results.


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> What I need to do is stop paying for ads and concentrate on putting out more work- I keep getting suckered into buying ads which only give me a handful of sales. I need to just put all marketing on hold and concentrate on getting more books out.
> 
> I think its obvious now why the ads I paid for aren't working like what the others here have done with theirs- everyone has been at this longer than I have and they have more books out. I think I will just need to keep writing and wait for more exposure instead of spending for ads left and right and getting minimal results.


Good idea, yeah. The ads I've used so far have done next to nothing for me, too. Get on with adding another book to your catalogue. One form of promo that could help is Facebook ads. It would mean being prepared to give away your only book as a freebie (It's what I'm doing) in return for getting mailing list sign ups, but long term, that's only going to help you.


----------



## Mjcaan

James R Wells said:


> I have really appreciated all the great information and advice on this board - there is no question that it has hugely helped the fortunes of my first novel, which just passed 1,000 copies sold (yay!). People on the board say exactly what they think, and that's fantastic.
> 
> Mostly I have learned about advance planning for the marketing part of the author thing. I concentrated so hard and for so long on the text, and then it's been catch up on marketing ever since. Next time around (whether that's next promoti0on, next novel, next anything), I'm going to have a real market plan instead of waking up each morning and trying to decide what to do next.
> 
> Like any other forum, it's important to take away what's valuable and cheerfully ignore what's not applicable for any given author. For instance, by conscious decision and due to IRL constraints I'm on a slower publishing schedule than what would typically be recommended here but hey, that's my choice (and hats off to everyone who can keep publishing on a higher frequency).


I think I'd want to work for it as well. Then I'd appreciate just what I went through to obtain my goals.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Anyone else trying Facebook Lead Generation ads? I've so far spent £24 for a total of 71 sign-ups, so around 0.34p per person. Which i think is a pretty decent return. I'm going to carry on with them, and tweaking to try to optimise further and bring down the cost-per-sign-up.

Of course, one thing I won't know for a while, is just how engaged these people will be. Will they carry on opening my emails? Buying my books? I think it's worth the small outlay at the moment to try and bump up my mailing list as much as possible, but that's something I'll then have to look at.


----------



## Nicholas Erik

Matthew Stott said:


> Anyone else trying Facebook Lead Generation ads? I've so far spent £24 for a total of 71 sign-ups, so around 0.34p per person. Which i think is a pretty decent return. I'm going to carry on with them, and tweaking to try to optimise further and bring down the cost-per-sign-up.
> 
> Of course, one thing I won't know for a while, is just how engaged these people will be. Will they carry on opening my emails? Buying my books? I think it's worth the small outlay at the moment to try and bump up my mailing list as much as possible, but that's something I'll then have to look at.


You might consider setting up an autoresponder sequence. Sign up for Nick Stephenson's and Mark Dawson's lists to see the type of emails I'm talking about. This helps keep the list to only those who are truly interested in what your books, rather than freebie seekers. They'll unsubscribe early that way, after they get an email or two from the autoresponding sequence.

If they signup, forget, then get hit with an email two months from now, they'll almost definitely unsubscribe then, but they might also hit you with a spam complaint, because they probably won't even remember signing up for your list in the first place.

Nick


----------



## Guest

Just finished the Deviations revision!  Now just need to do a quick spell/grammar check and get it to a beta or two for a final read through and feedback before it goes to my editor. :-D


----------



## Jim Johnson

Anma Natsu said:


> Just finished the Deviations revision! Now just need to do a quick spell/grammar check and get it to a beta or two for a final read through and feedback before it goes to my editor. :-D


Awesome, great progress and good luck! I finished post-editorial revisions on my series's first two episodes and am starting the final pass-through now while my Kindle reads them to me out loud. Ebooks to be released soon! And my artist just sent me some more sketches for the print version. Fun times.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Money is horrible. I think we can all agree that we hate it and want nothing to do with it. That being the case, I've decided that when I put my new book up next week, I'm gonna use my free days straight away. It's a spooky tale, so I thought, as it happens to be halloween week, I'll try and take advantage by making it as easy a decision as possible for people in the mood for a creepy read to download. It'll either mean a bump in downloads and visibility right away, or very few and little to no action when it reverts back to paid.

We'll see.

But as I said, who likes money, anyway? Not this guy! *points at own face*


----------



## Matthew Stott

Nicholas Erik said:


> You might consider setting up an autoresponder sequence. Sign up for Nick Stephenson's and Mark Dawson's lists to see the type of emails I'm talking about. This helps keep the list to only those who are truly interested in what your books, rather than freebie seekers. They'll unsubscribe early that way, after they get an email or two from the autoresponding sequence.
> 
> If they signup, forget, then get hit with an email two months from now, they'll almost definitely unsubscribe then, but they might also hit you with a spam complaint, because they probably won't even remember signing up for your list in the first place.
> 
> Nick


Yeah, that's something I'm going to look into. At the moment it's a paid for feature on Mailchimp, and I'm using the free option, so I'll have to have a think about that...


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Money is horrible. I think we can all agree that we hate it and want nothing to do with it. That being the case, I've decided that when I put my new book up next week, I'm gonna use my free days straight away. It's a spooky tale, so I thought, as it happens to be halloween week, I'll try and take advantage by making it as easy a decision as possible for people in the mood for a creepy read to download. It'll either mean a bump in downloads and visibility right away, or very few and little to no action when it reverts back to paid.
> 
> We'll see.
> 
> But as I said, who likes money, anyway? Not this guy! *points at own face*


We've gotta spend money to make money! (Or in this case, give away free stuff)

Do you have promos set up for the free days? Maybe do an FB ad, I did one for my Hell's Belles book a couple of weeks ago while it was free and I had a good response and I only spent 2 bucks a day.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> We've gotta spend money to make money! (Or in this case, give away free stuff)
> 
> Do you have promos set up for the free days? Maybe do an FB ad, I did one for my Hell's Belles book a couple of weeks ago while it was free and I had a good response and I only spent 2 bucks a day.


I only just relaised that I should do this today, so haven't had chance to look for promos. I guess it'll be too late for anywhere good, plus it's a novelette, and seems like some only accept full novels. But I'm going to take a look. I've got a few hundred on my mailing list, so I'm going to try and get as many as them as possible to download, and, like you say, use Facebook. I've had a fair bit of success in the last week gaining mailing list sign ups with a Facebook ad, so I'm going to put a few pounds a day into pushing around a 'Free Halloween Story!' ad. Because of the timing, I guess it'll get a good amount of hits.


----------



## L.B

Matthew Stott said:


> Money is horrible. I think we can all agree that we hate it and want nothing to do with it. That being the case, I've decided that when I put my new book up next week, I'm gonna use my free days straight away. It's a spooky tale, so I thought, as it happens to be halloween week, I'll try and take advantage by making it as easy a decision as possible for people in the mood for a creepy read to download. It'll either mean a bump in downloads and visibility right away, or very few and little to no action when it reverts back to paid.
> 
> We'll see.
> 
> But as I said, who likes money, anyway? Not this guy! *points at own face*


  This post made me smile.

I think you need to have things in select for 30 days before you can use your free days though.


----------



## Matthew Stott

B. Yard said:


> This post made me smile.
> 
> I think you need to have things in select for 30 days before you can use your free days though.


Hm, I'll have to look into that. I didn't notice anything about that when I booked my days for my other book...


----------



## Michael Marnier

The 30 day wait is for Countdown Deals, I believe. I used 3 of my 5 freebie days just a week after launching _Trouble on the Straits _September 23rd.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Matthew Stott said:


> Hm, I'll have to look into that. I didn't notice anything about that when I booked my days for my other book...


Phew, just checked. As far as I can make out, the 30 day rule applies to a 'countdown' deal, but not for the five free days you can use. That would really have scuppered things...!


Michael Marnier said:


> The 30 day wait is for Countdown Deals, I believe. I used 3 of my 5 freebie days just a week after launching _Trouble on the Straits _September 23rd.


Indeed. PHEW!


----------



## Cherise

Matthew Stott said:


> ... It'll either mean a bump in downloads and visibility right away, or very few and *little to no action when it reverts back to paid*.


Just FYI: The sales bump because of a boost on the paid lists after a Select freebie reverted back to paid went away years ago. Follow on sales and mailing list sign-ups are the only reasons to do a Select freebie run now.

If that wasn't what you meant, then ignore this public service announcement.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Cherise Kelley said:


> Just FYI: The sales bump because of a boost on the paid lists after a Select freebie reverted back to paid went away years ago. Follow on sales and mailing list sign-ups are the only reasons to do a Select freebie run now.
> 
> If that wasn't what you meant, then ignore this public service announcement.


Wasn't aware of that, but no worries! At this point I'm still just looking to get eyes on my stories and increase my mailing list, so if that's all it achieves, then it'll have done more than enough.  I'm actually going to offer a second free book as the incentive to get anyone who downloads to actually go ahead and sign up. I'm just too generous. 

Hopefully all these freebies with my eyes on the long term will prove worthwhile in a year or so.


----------



## L.B

Michael Marnier said:


> The 30 day wait is for Countdown Deals, I believe. I used 3 of my 5 freebie days just a week after launching _Trouble on the Straits _September 23rd.


Ah, I stand corrected! Thanks for putting me straight Michael.


----------



## Guest

Also, a gentle reminder to newbs to gear up for the holidays. If you have paperbacks, enroll them in MatchBook. It will be an incentive; buy the paperback for a friend, keep the eBook for yourself. That sort of thing. Just a small tip. I am going to knock a couple of bucks off my paperback prices in November.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Also, a gentle reminder to newbs to gear up for the holidays. If you have paperbacks, enroll them in MatchBook. It will be an incentive; buy the paperback for a friend, keep the eBook for yourself. That sort of thing. Just a small tip. I am going to knock a couple of bucks off my paperback prices in November.


Yeah, all the eBooks I have coming out near the end of November, I'm also publishing in print. I took a look at my CreateSpace sales and I was shocked at how many more print books I sold during the holiday season. There was a definite bump, and it's the ONLY reason I'm putting my books in print as well as eBook. Otherwise, it's a pain-in-the-butt, and *I* wouldn't bother with it.


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Yeah, all the eBooks I have coming out near the end of November, I'm also publishing in print. I took a look at my CreateSpace sales and I was shocked at how many more print books I sold during the holiday season. There was a definite bump, and it's the ONLY reason I'm putting my books in print as well as eBook. Otherwise, it's a pain-in-the-butt, and *I* wouldn't bother with it.


Nice! Yeah, they really are a pain in the butt. (I have given up on trying to format them) I make an extra hundred or so a month from them on the regular so I am stoked for Christmas possibilities!


----------



## Matthew Stott

For my paperback, I literally just downloaded one of the createspace templates and copied and pasted my book in, chapter by chapter. I had to fiddle around a little, but it seems to look okay...


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> For my paperback, I literally just downloaded one of the createspace templates and copied and pasted my book in, chapter by chapter. I had to fiddle around a little, but it seems to look okay...


For some reason mine would never pass when I tried that. (I am unbelievably tech inept though) So I pay a woman on Fiverr ten bucks to format it for me. Simple, nothing fancy. But it beats me throwing my laptop out the window in frustration.


----------



## ScottCarlson

This post is just pure awesomeness!


----------



## Jim Johnson

BelleAC said:


> Also, a gentle reminder to newbs to gear up for the holidays. If you have paperbacks, enroll them in MatchBook. It will be an incentive; buy the paperback for a friend, keep the eBook for yourself. That sort of thing. Just a small tip. I am going to knock a couple of bucks off my paperback prices in November.


I'll have the first three episodes of my first series out in ebook before Christmas, and hopefully the first two paperbacks. Mostly depends on how fast I can crack the whip on the artist doing some art and on my print layout guru. Given I've got two months, I should be able to get at least the print version of #1 out, and then someone's stockings are gonna get stuffed with some weird western action. Woo!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> I'll have the first three episodes of my first series out in ebook before Christmas, and hopefully the first two paperbacks. Mostly depends on how fast I can crack the whip on the artist doing some art and on my print layout guru. Given I've got two months, I should be able to get at least the print version of #1 out, and then someone's stockings are gonna get stuffed with some weird western action. Woo!


If your print layout person takes too long, you really should crack the whip! I did my own without knowing what I was doing in the space of a few hours, so if this person knows their stuff, they should be able to race through it.


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> ... and then someone's stockings are gonna get stuffed with some weird western action. Woo!


This made me giggle.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Haven't sold a copy of the book in my sig for 5 days now. I guess this indie lark ain't going to be easy...!  
But my focus is on give-aways and list building at the moment (I may have sold next to nothing, but I've given away a few hundred now, which feels pretty good!). I'll worry about sales in six months time when I have more books out. Or in a year, even. Listening to the SPP, amongst others, has helped me train my focus on the long term, I think. Sales and money making are for when I've earned enough of an audience.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Haven't sold a copy of the book in my sig for 5 days now. I guess this indie lark ain't going to be easy...!
> But my focus is on give-aways and list building at the moment (I may have sold next to nothing, but I've given away a few hundred now, which feels pretty good!). I'll worry about sales in six months time when I have more books out. Or in a year, even. Listening to the SPP, amongst others, has helped me train my focus on the long term, I think. Sales and money making are for when I've earned enough of an audience.


You're in the completely right mindset. Concentrate on just getting books out. Now that I have 5 books (which will be 7 soon!) I don't go a day without at least a few sales. I haven't had a no-sale day in a long time but I DID have them. Where it would be DAYS and I would cry into my glass of boxed wine. You've got this. Just keep goin'.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

Matthew Stott said:


> Haven't sold a copy of the book in my sig for 5 days now. I guess this indie lark ain't going to be easy...!
> But my focus is on give-aways and list building at the moment (I may have sold next to nothing, but I've given away a few hundred now, which feels pretty good!). I'll worry about sales in six months time when I have more books out. Or in a year, even. Listening to the SPP, amongst others, has helped me train my focus on the long term, I think. Sales and money making are for when I've earned enough of an audience.


I haven't sold anything in a month, not even a page read 

That said, I don't worry about it. I'm simply concentrating on the next book... and the next. When I've got at least three in a series then I can look at promotion. I found I spent far too much time fretting about the first book rather than getting on with the next. The more I learn about self-publishing the more I realise it's about releasing on a regular schedule... every three months is the target.


----------



## SamuelStokes

Yeah I agree. Really need to get cranking on my next one, watching the sales meter can do a lot more harm then good.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

JTriptych said:


> What I need to do is stop paying for ads and concentrate on putting out more work- I keep getting suckered into buying ads which only give me a handful of sales. I need to just put all marketing on hold and concentrate on getting more books out.
> 
> I think its obvious now why the ads I paid for aren't working like what the others here have done with theirs- everyone has been at this longer than I have and they have more books out. I think I will just need to keep writing and wait for more exposure instead of spending for ads left and right and getting minimal results.


This!


----------



## Guest

To any n00bs who haven't published yet, I am 85 percent sure I will be submitting a book for Kindle Scout. I will post results here (and in the Kindle Scout thread) so y'all can see the process. I am publishing under a different name. (But it's not going to be a secret. I am just doing it for genre purposes) I hadn't seen anyone mention possibly trying it. Anyone else thought of it?


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> You're in the completely right mindset. Concentrate on just getting books out. Now that I have 5 books (which will be 7 soon!) I don't go a day without at least a few sales. I haven't had a no-sale day in a long time but I DID have them. Where it would be DAYS and I would cry into my glass of boxed wine. You've got this. Just keep goin'.


*High-Five* 

It's great to hear about other newbs who are ahead of me, shows you what's possible. I agree, get lots of work out, get it in front of people one way or the other, and if you manage to do that, the rest should (hopefully!) follow. I think it would be very easy to get downhearted about these things, but if you concentrate on where you'll be in a year, two years, you're going to do much better and feel much much better about where you are now. And perhaps drink less boxed wine.


----------



## Matthew Stott

geraldmkilby said:


> IThat said, I don't worry about it. I'm simply concentrating on the next book... and the next. When I've got at least three in a series then I can look at promotion.


Definitely the smart mind-set to try and get into.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> To any n00bs who haven't published yet, I am 85 percent sure I will be submitting a book for Kindle Scout. I will post results here (and in the Kindle Scout thread) so y'all can see the process. I am publishing under a different name. (But it's not going to be a secret. I am just doing it for genre purposes) I hadn't seen anyone mention possibly trying it. Anyone else thought of it?


It will be very interesting to see how it goes for you. I've only had a quick look, as at the moment I don't have a book that, I think, qualifies and is ready to go. But I may well have a go in future.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> To any n00bs who haven't published yet, I am 85 percent sure I will be submitting a book for Kindle Scout. I will post results here (and in the Kindle Scout thread) so y'all can see the process. I am publishing under a different name. (But it's not going to be a secret. I am just doing it for genre purposes) I hadn't seen anyone mention possibly trying it. Anyone else thought of it?


Yeah, next year I'll probably go for it. Right now my focus is on my upcoming novellas.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Matthew Stott said:


> If your print layout person takes too long, you really should crack the whip! I did my own without knowing what I was doing in the space of a few hours, so if this person knows their stuff, they should be able to race through it.


He got my covers turned around in great time, and I expect he'll knock out the layout quickly too. I'll be finalizing the manuscript text today or tomorrow and will be sending him the files asap after that, so I'm not worried. If anything, I need to crack the whip on myself to get the last 'five senses' edit pass done.


----------



## Jim Johnson

BelleAC said:


> To any n00bs who haven't published yet, I am 85 percent sure I will be submitting a book for Kindle Scout. I will post results here (and in the Kindle Scout thread) so y'all can see the process. I am publishing under a different name. (But it's not going to be a secret. I am just doing it for genre purposes) I hadn't seen anyone mention possibly trying it. Anyone else thought of it?


I'm going to be shamelessly watching your progress in it and then submitting the first book of a different series to it sometime early next year. Thanks in advance for being a trail-blazer. I'll cheer you on all the way and support you as much as a reader can.


----------



## Eva Chase

Now that my release week promo for my first book is done, I expect to see sales waaaay drop off too, so I'm in that just get on with the next book headspace too. 



BelleAC said:


> To any n00bs who haven't published yet, I am 85 percent sure I will be submitting a book for Kindle Scout. I will post results here (and in the Kindle Scout thread) so y'all can see the process. I am publishing under a different name. (But it's not going to be a secret. I am just doing it for genre purposes) I hadn't seen anyone mention possibly trying it. Anyone else thought of it?


I'll be interested to hear about your experience! It's not something I see myself doing, because I created this pen name specifically to have some books that were completely my own separate from my trad publishing career (so it'd be rather counter-purpose to then pursue trad publication with any of those books, even with Amazon), but I can see why others would want to give it a shot.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Just uploaded the finished file for my second release, chose the pre-order option, and hit publish. *does a little dance*

This spooky bad boy is going to be available next week so I can try and take advantage of Halloween. 










As mentioned earlier, I'm going to use all 5 free KU days in the first week, and try to push my mailing list at it, set up a Facebook ad, and see if I can get any other promos set up in the short space of time remaining... My aim is of course to get it in front of many people as possible, but to also get a bunch of new mailing list sign ups. Inside will be a link to my mailing list with an offer of yet another free book if they sign up.


----------



## L.B

Matthew Stott said:


> Just uploaded the finished file for my second release, chose the pre-order option, and hit publish. *does a little dance*
> 
> This spooky bad boy is going to be available next week so I can try and take advantage of Halloween.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As mentioned earlier, I'm going to use all 5 free KU days in the first week, and try to push my mailing list at it, set up a Facebook ad, and see if I can get any other promos set up in the short space of time remaining... My aim is of course to get it in front of many people as possible, but to also get a bunch of new mailing list sign ups. Inside will be a link to my mailing list with an offer of yet another free book if they sign up.


Love the cover again Matthew. Good luck!


----------



## Matthew Stott

B. Yard said:


> Love the cover again Matthew. Good luck!


Thanks! I like it very much too. Kinda unusual, i think, for a book cover, but that's part of its appeal, to me.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ah. Hm. Just remembered that the Look Inside feature doesn't seem to work on Pre-orders, and any promo sites prob want access to that. May just have to make it available properly as soon as Amazon gives it the thumbs up.


----------



## Eva Chase

Matthew Stott said:


> Ah. Hm. Just remembered that the Look Inside feature doesn't seem to work on Pre-orders, and any promo sites prob want access to that. May just have to make it available properly as soon as Amazon gives it the thumbs up.


I was able to book promo sites for _Caught in the Glow_ as much as a month in advance, though I did put the paperback up around that time (to allow advance reviews), so I suppose people could have clicked over to that to check the Look Inside. But I'm not sure the promo sites do check.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eva Chase said:


> I was able to book promo sites for _Caught in the Glow_ as much as a month in advance, though I did put the paperback up around that time (to allow advance reviews), so I suppose people could have clicked over to that to check the Look Inside. But I'm not sure the promo sites do check.


Yeah, you could be right... It doesn't affect my plans if I just make it live though. I guess I'll just do that, better safe than sorry.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> You're in the completely right mindset. Concentrate on just getting books out. Now that I have 5 books (which will be 7 soon!) I don't go a day without at least a few sales. I haven't had a no-sale day in a long time but I DID have them. Where it would be DAYS and I would cry into my glass of boxed wine. You've got this. Just keep goin'.


Yep! My zombie books still sell despite the fact that I'm been done with the series.


----------



## Guest

Hello!

What's going on with me?  

I unpublished both my novel and my serials from Amazon.  The serials are being turned into a novella series that will launch at the end of November/beginning of December.

The novel is getting rewritten and it will get a new cover.

~~~~

Looking forward to publishing my novellas.    

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Got my first royalty payment today! Only for the last week in August as I launched on the 22nd but nevertheless it's very satisfying to get paid for something you created, even if it just covers the groceries. Meanwhile sales still going well, and both titles still in the top 10 of their category. I'm working on part 3 right now so hope to get it finished in the next two weeks or so.


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

Wow! Y'all have been busy since I last checked this thread!

Congrats, Jim, on the baby.

Matthew, that's so awesome about getting the BookBub so soon.

Alison, do let us know how the Kindle Scout experience goes.

As for what I've been up to? Looking for another full time job and writing. Book 3 is almost done (so close I can taste it). It's a little behind schedule, but considering everything that's gone down in the past few months I'm stoked that it's not THAT far behind. October started off strong for me sales wise, but really slowed down and is now looking like my worst month so far. :/ Granted, I'm hitting the 60-day cliff with my last release, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Need to get that next book out there.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Closing in on locking down the text for episode 1 and spent part of the day writing the text for the Acknowledgments, About the Author, copyright notice, and Afterword. Fun stuff. Ebook publication gets a little closer. Also got the final ebook covers in hand from the artist.

Good luck, everyone. Jolie--brave move. I can't imagine unpublishing something that already has reviews and also-boughts in place.


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Good luck, everyone. Jolie--brave move. I can't imagine unpublishing something that already has reviews and also-boughts in place.


I'm happy with the move, and I believe it's the right move going forward. 

~~~~

Good luck to you and to everyone!


----------



## Adair Hart

geraldmkilby said:


> I haven't sold anything in a month, not even a page read
> 
> That said, I don't worry about it. I'm simply concentrating on the next book... and the next. When I've got at least three in a series then I can look at promotion. I found I spent far too much time fretting about the first book rather than getting on with the next. The more I learn about self-publishing the more I realise it's about releasing on a regular schedule... every three months is the target.


Dang, sorry to hear that Gerald. I did some facebook ads and belive they are responsible for the on/off sales and page reads over the last few weeks, although I spend more than I bring in and no reviews  I have postponed it until I have a book I can give away for free to get newsletter signups and possibly more reviews.

I am just now trickling down to no page reads/sales per day, but had a good run for seven weeks on my first book. I have had almost more full read throughs in KU (8330 with 257 KENPC = 32 full reads) than sales (34) oddly enough. My goal was 25 first month and 10 second month, and I have hit both goals by a comfortable margin. I think that will pick up dramatically by next March when I have three books out. I have had several compliments on the first book and had someone say they love my setting and writing and where I am going with it. A prawny thing perhaps, but it made me fly for the rest of the day 

I been gone for a few days and this thread has expanded quick! Good luck on Kindle scout, Alison. Jolie, good luck on republishing! Good luck on your series Jim! Eva, I enjoyed following your promo thread, and Matthew, Jtryptch, and Gerald, keep trucking 

What have I been up to?

For Book 1 (46k): 
- My Kindle countdown is October 31 - November 6 and I got all my promotions registered except for ENT who said there was no room 
- My audio book for Book 1 begins mid-November. Contract has been signed and pronunciation guide done. 
- Working on a book trailer. Storyboard is done and now need to flesh out the details

For Book 2 (87k):
- Currently in copyedit phase 1 and will be done October 31st. Phase 2 begins 2-3 weeks later. 
- Cover is being done now and should have it by end of month
- Settled on title and working on blurb
- Lined up formatting for print/ebook for first week of December

For Book 3 (85k projected):
- Currently cranking on outline, and will begin writing it starting this weekend. I have it done on paper, and am now convert it to excel which breaks it into chapters, scenes, subplots, characters, chronology, and locations.

For free book to giveaway for facebook ads:
- Currently outlining

It's been a busy week, and appears it will be busy all through the holiday season, and that's quite okay, I love the hectice pace


----------



## KDKinney

Let's see, I know I posted earlier how I started publishing in April. I'm now up to 2 novels and 3 parts to my serial. I'm working on Part Four right now and something new for an adult audience I want to try under a new pen name. 

One of the novels I have out is part of a series. I have a majority of Book 2 and 3 already written. I'm distracted with the serial and trying to prep the 2 novels I already have out for paperback and also getting a cover so I can release the serial as a bundle as well. All the money sucking stuff since I can't do covers myself. I sure would love to learn how to do that though. I think my YA Western needs a different cover. I'm sure it does actually but there's not much I can do about that for the moment with so many other writerly expensive things going on with so many projects and with Christmas on the way.

As far as movement goes, I did some free days last week on Part One of the serial. It was a last minute decision since KU was renewing on Sat. I had over 300 downloads and I only did one promo site. BKNights. I had hoped to see some movement saleswise on the other two parts of the series. So far, the people that actually pay for part one are the ones that read through the rest of the series. I managed to release Part Three as well while the freebie was going on. In the end, I have had lots of KU reads of all my books going on. Last month was better sales wise. Probably because I released my second novel, kept it at $0.99 all month long and ran a $0.99 sale on the other for a week. What was strange about last month is the serial hardly did anything at all. This month that is what is seeing all the action. That was happening before I even had the free days or released Part Three.

I'm not all that sure about sticking with Amazon with all the glitchy stuff from this past month. The reads only seem to move once or twice a day. Then right after midnight sometimes I have page reads. So weird. Everything I have out now will go out of KU in Dec and Jan and that will be a good time to see about going wide.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Well, yes, I'm famous now. I won't let it go to my head (please don't look me directly in the eyes).
A guy who I chat to about Doctor Who on Twitter asked to interview me for his blog:

http://rubber-room.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-inmate-interviews-1-matthew-stott.html

Please excuse my big daft face at the top. My beard is no longer of such upsetting proportions.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Got my first royalty payment today!


Cool!


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Hello!
> 
> What's going on with me?
> 
> I unpublished both my novel and my serials from Amazon. The serials are being turned into a novella series that will launch at the end of November/beginning of December.
> 
> The novel is getting rewritten and it will get a new cover.
> 
> ~~~~
> 
> Looking forward to publishing my novellas.
> 
> Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!


Good luck, Jolie!!!


----------



## Guest

AubreyGross said:


> Wow! Y'all have been busy since I last checked this thread!
> 
> Congrats, Jim, on the baby.
> 
> Matthew, that's so awesome about getting the BookBub so soon.
> 
> Alison, do let us know how the Kindle Scout experience goes.
> 
> As for what I've been up to? Looking for another full time job and writing. Book 3 is almost done (so close I can taste it). It's a little behind schedule, but considering everything that's gone down in the past few months I'm stoked that it's not THAT far behind. October started off strong for me sales wise, but really slowed down and is now looking like my worst month so far. :/ Granted, I'm hitting the 60-day cliff with my last release, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Need to get that next book out there.


Thanks, I will for sure keep y'all updated.

I'm sorry to hear the sales have slid a bit but those cliffs really are tough. I am sure when you get that next book out they'll be on the rise again! You deal with a lot and its amazing what you accomplish.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Hello!
> 
> What's going on with me?
> 
> I unpublished both my novel and my serials from Amazon. The serials are being turned into a novella series that will launch at the end of November/beginning of December.
> 
> The novel is getting rewritten and it will get a new cover.


That's quite a move...!  Hope it works out how you want.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Hm, the pre-order for my next book is still 'publishing'. Amazon is being a bit of a slowpoke this time around.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Hm, the pre-order for my next book is still 'publishing'. Amazon is being a bit of a slowpoke this time around.


Excellent news that you've got your pre-order coming up! That will work well with your upcoming Bookbub ad.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Excellent news that you've got your pre-order coming up! That will work well with your upcoming Bookbub ad.


It will actually be out when my Bookbub hits! At which point I'll have a another pre-order up, too.

I've booked, or hopefully booked in some cases, another six promo sites to run before and after the BookBub, including a Freebooksy, which I hear is a really good one, too. Had a go at an ENT, too; though I haven't heard back since booking. What with all the promo costs, including Facebook ads, a new cover paid for, and money for an edit, I'm really going to enjoy looking at my next credit card bill....


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> It will actually be out when my Bookbub hits! At which point I'll have a another pre-order up, too.
> 
> I've booked, or hopefully booked in some cases, another six promo sites to run before and after the BookBub, including a Freebooksy, which I hear is a really good one, too. Had a go at an ENT, too; though I haven't heard back since booking. What with all the promo costs, including Facebook ads, a new cover paid for, and money for an edit, I'm really going to enjoy looking at my next credit card bill....


Be sure to keep us updated on the results!  You're taking a risk with your credit card, but some risks are good.


----------



## JTriptych

OK, after about 13 days since Ive published my book I'm averaging about .84 sales a day lol, so much for my initial estimates of hoping to sell 500K within the first few hours lol. I think I made a mistake of going wide too so Ive shut down my D2D and Smashwords since I got zero sales there and going with KU for the next few months and then reevaluate next year.  But then again my R-rated crime thriller wasn't gonna be the most appealing and I was kinda expecting that. 

I got about 3 books sold on my bknights ad and they were gracious enough to refund my money so I will definitely be using them again as soon as I have more books.  

In the meantime I am hard at work on the next book which will be book 1 of a post apocalyptic trilogy that Im very excited about. Should be published by December/January assuming all goes well.


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> I got about 3 books sold on my bknights ad and they were gracious enough to refund my money so I will definitely be using them again as soon as I have more books.


Oh really? I think I had about the same result through them.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

@Adair Hart Thanks for your thoughts.

I met a neighbor of mine today who just finished FUSION. He loved it. In fact I think he was quite surprised at the standard. He's an avid  reader, said it reminded him of the great Michael Crichton, high praise indeed. Kept me buzzed up for the rest of the day. To me, when a reader loves the book, this is worth a thousand sales. It's priceless really. Think about it... you cant buy that feeling.

Now he's all fired up to beta read the new one, Colony One Mars... and I'm all fired up to finish it.


----------



## TaxationIsTheft

BelleAC said:


> Thanks, I will for sure keep y'all updated.
> 
> I'm sorry to hear the sales have slid a bit but those cliffs really are tough. I am sure when you get that next book out they'll be on the rise again! You deal with a lot and its amazing what you accomplish.


Thank you! It's definitely been a crazy year.  It's hard to be too upset about sales slowing down considering I'm hitting a cliff, especially when my cliffs seem to come at 60 days rather than 30. *knock on wood* Things finally feel like they're settling down, and in the past week and a half I've written just over 18,500 words. I seriously had no idea it had been that many until I added it up in my spreadsheet just now. This book is so close to being done I can almost taste it!


----------



## KDKinney

JTriptych said:


> I got about 3 books sold on my bknights ad and they were gracious enough to refund my money so I will definitely be using them again as soon as I have more books.





Matthew Stott said:


> Oh really? I think I had about the same result through them.


I used BKnights on 2 $0.99 books at different times and had dismal results. He refunded me both times. I used him last minute on some of my free days for the first part of my serial and had over 200 downloads that day. So even for me, free works best with that fiverr deal. I'm still waiting for the trickle through on sales of the other parts. But the bump from free downloads seems to helped my visibility in KU because that has been where I'm making money this month and the reads on all my books spiked since the free days on the one book.


----------



## Jim Johnson

OK, utter noob question that a kboards search didn't help with--picking the two categories for your book. If there's a category listed in the Amazon store but that category isn't available in the KDP setup screen for the book, do I pick the closest matches and then hope my keywords get me added to the category? Or should I be planning to email Amazon after I publish to ask to be added to the category I couldn't select?


----------



## KDKinney

Jim Johnson said:


> OK, utter noob question that a kboards search didn't help with--picking the two categories for your book. If there's a category listed in the Amazon store but that category isn't available in the KDP setup screen for the book, do I pick the closest matches and then hope my keywords get me added to the category? Or should I be planning to email Amazon after I publish to ask to be added to the category I couldn't select?


Mind you, I have very little experience with this but I did watch Nick Stephenson's videos on categories and Keywords. Pick the 2 categories that will suit your book but also won't drown it in the rankings. Your keywords will get you in the other places when people search your book.

My best example is my Historical/Western. I picked Young Adult Western and I think it was United States 19th century. I maintain really nice rankings there even when not much is going on. I tried changing the 19th century to Action Adventure before I watched Nick's videos. But the ranking was like I sunk to the bottom of the sea. When I changed it back, the ranking improved.

In the Keywords I put in sweet romance because it has a strong romantic element in it-almost could be categorized there but it would be lost there too. So I sit in an obscure place- Young Adult Western and it is #37 today in teen>literature and fiction> Western

On my Fantasy- I put it in Young Adult Fantasy and I can't remember the second category. In the keywords I put in Coming of Age, Sword and Sorcery, Epic and that shows up in the categories. That one is a little lost right now. I just use that as an example of how keywords put it in a more selective category than the ones I checked when uploading my book.


----------



## lilywhite

Matthew Stott said:


> Luckily, rather than have to pull the covers down, and go back to the designer and bother him, I was able to just edit my little rhyme so it now works with what's on the cover.


*ahem*

Don't forget the rhyme occurs in several places in the story ... make sure you got them all.

*quiets back down*


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> OK, utter noob question that a kboards search didn't help with--picking the two categories for your book. If there's a category listed in the Amazon store but that category isn't available in the KDP setup screen for the book, do I pick the closest matches and then hope my keywords get me added to the category? Or should I be planning to email Amazon after I publish to ask to be added to the category I couldn't select?


Hey, Jim! Email Amazon with the request. That's what I did with one (or possibly two) of my zombie books. They will give you the categories that you want.


----------



## Patty Jansen

This is the link for how to get into subcategories in the SF/F genres: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A2G3ZMYDPB9VRM&


----------



## Matthew Stott

lilywhite said:


> *ahem*
> 
> Don't forget the rhyme occurs in several places in the story ... make sure you got them all.
> 
> *quiets back down*


Ah...
Yes...
Oops.
Well I know what I'm doing later..! I also realised I had my dates at the start of a couple of chapters wrong. I'm really good at all the details.

EDIT: Actually, just realised I put it on Pre-Order so I could get a promo set up, which means I don't think I can now change the file until it's actually properly released.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> EDIT: Actually, just realised I put it on Pre-Order so I could get a promo set up, which means I don't think I can now change the file until it's actually properly released.


Check the rule. It's been some months since I did a preorder, but I believe you can change the file up to a certain point. But check the rule.

And if anyone remembers the rule who is reading this post, please post it.


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Jolie du Pre said:


> And if anyone remembers the rule who is reading this post, please post it.


You mean this one?
https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=AGSSZQVFKECO5


----------



## Matthew Stott

Veronica Sicoe said:


> You mean this one?
> https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=AGSSZQVFKECO5


Thanks.

Yeah, can't change as it's less than 10 days to publication. Not too big a deal as I'll change it the first moment I can, and I'm not planning on making anyone aware it's available until the day after.


----------



## Guest

Veronica Sicoe said:


> You mean this one?
> https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=AGSSZQVFKECO5


Yep, that's it. Thanks.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Patty Jansen said:


> This is the link for how to get into subcategories in the SF/F genres: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A2G3ZMYDPB9VRM&


I knew about that one, but thanks for the reminder. My confusion is that there's this HNR list: http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/digital-text/7588796011/ref=zg_bsnr_nav_kstore_5_157073011?tag=viglink20273-20

And I have no idea how to get onto the Science Fiction > Western subcat since it's not in the list you linked to.

Thanks Jolie and KD!


----------



## Guest

Eva Chase said:


> I just noticed that the Also Boughts have finally kicked in for _Caught in the Glow_! A little thing, but yay!
> 
> (Actual *sales* have not really been a thing since it went to full price--though I have been getting about a book's worth of pages read a day, so at least that's something.)


Good luck with everything, Eva!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Jolie du Pre said:


> Jim, your covers are fabulous! I leave for vacation in a couple of weeks, and I'll be reading your first book while I'm there.


Thanks, Jolie! Try not to spend too much time reading. Enjoy your vacation!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> You rock! This is excellent. I can't wait to read about your results!


Thanks! 

Preparing for a big push on Sixty-Six, which I'm releasing and then making free Tues-Sat, so the week up to and including Halloween. I'm of course hoping for lots of downloads over the week, but I'm going to set a modest target of 100 free downloads. That way, anything over is huge victory.


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Thanks, Jolie! Try not to spend too much time reading. Enjoy your vacation!


Au contraire, my friend! That's a time when I do the most reading.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Jolie du Pre said:


> Au contraire, my friend! That's a time when I do the most reading.


Touche. Given both my wife and I got a lot of reading in on our honeymoon, I have no room to talk.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Confirmed my third big hitter for the A Monstrous Place promo next week. Will have BookBub, then ENT, and finish with Freebooksy for the three days I'm making it free. Didn't know when, if ever, BookBub would give me the nod again, so decided to try and pile on the other big ones to try and make the most of it..! Also added a few other smaller ones into the mix. Fingers crossed I give away a ton.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Good luck, Matthew!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> Good luck, Matthew!


Thanks! I'm havnig no luck selling the blighters, so maybe throwing as many out for free as possible will do the trick!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Adding up what I've spent on promo/covers/editing/Facebook ads over the last month: HOLY CRAP. Expensive business, this! Hopefully I'll see results from the promos I've booked, as I think I'll be holding off on any more for the remainder of the year...!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Okay! So today's the day, my spooky tale 'Sixty-Six' is now free on Amazon up to and including Halloween. I'm going to push it through my Twitter/Facebook followers, Mailing list, Facebook ads and a single other promo, Freebooksy. Inside there's an offer of another free book if they sign up to the mailing list. The Facebook ads don't kick in until later today.

Fingers crossed for lots of downloads! (feel free to click the pic in my sig, if you want to....)  

Hopeful outcome: lots of people reading, of course, pushing up my visibility, and lots of new mailing list peeps.


----------



## Adair Hart

Good luck on your promo Matthew!

Although I posted this in my cover artist's thread, I wanted to give some additional exposure for my cover artist Tom Edwards and also showcase my second cover to my fellow newbies!  Tom does some fantastic SFF work! This one shows my protagonist's space and time traveling ship, the Torvatta, flying into a city.


----------



## Guest

Congratulations, Adair!  These sci-fi covers are always so beautiful!


----------



## Adair Hart

Jolie du Pre said:


> Congratulations, Adair! These sci-fi covers are always so beautiful!


Thanks Jolie! I wish I had the time to learn to draw/paint like that, but then I suppose if I did, I would be doing graphic novels


----------



## Eva Chase

Good luck, Matthew! And that is one gorgeous cover, Adair! Now I know who to go to if I ever start writing SF.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Yes! Love the way your cover kinda glows. Adair.


----------



## M Adams

Good Morning!

I love the idea of a Newbie Support Thread, or a Class of 2015 thread. I'm so new, I'm still trying to navigate this forum! Is there a tutorial on formatting a post, inserting a signature, etc?

I haven't pubbed yet, and have three WIPs at the moment. I work a full-time job in a mental health agency, a part-time job as a private practitioner, and run two small businesses from home. Fitting in writing time is really a struggle! My dream is to dump the full time agency work, as it's horribly stressful.

One of my businesses is publishing a local, educational magazine for women. The other is a health and fitness coach. I love both of those things, and the private practice work. Writing is my long-term plan to carry me through retirement.

Someone asked earlier if you would rather work for a windfall of money or win the lottery. Personally, I'd rather win the lottery! I have finally learned about myself that I HATE the hustle of sales, deadlines, someone looking over your shoulder, and working outside the home. I'm an artist and would rather draw and paint, work in my garden, knit, crochet, arrange flowers, do needlework, sew, and create cool things, and do geneology research, and go antiquing from time to time. It just seems I always have a do-list a mile long related to my jobs or businesses. Deadlines cause panic attacks, and worrying about paying bills paralyzes me.

I've always had stories and characters in my head. I'm learning how to release them and let them tell their stories. I love it! Hopefully, there will still be time in my dream life to pursue all my other creative hobbies.

Magdelena Adams


----------



## JTriptych

Adair Hart said:


> Good luck on your promo Matthew!
> 
> Although I posted this in my cover artist's thread, I wanted to give some additional exposure for my cover artist Tom Edwards and also showcase my second cover to my fellow newbies!  Tom does some fantastic SFF work! This one shows my protagonist's space and time traveling ship, the Torvatta, flying into a city.


Wow! Awesome cover, it deserves its own thread!


----------



## Adair Hart

M Adams said:


> Good Morning!
> 
> I love the idea of a Newbie Support Thread, or a Class of 2015 thread. I'm so new, I'm still trying to navigate this forum! Is there a tutorial on formatting a post, inserting a signature, etc?
> 
> Magdelena Adams


Welcome Magdalene! There is a sticky thread you can read that has good information on the forums decorum, author signatures, and the like here:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,41454.0.html

Thanks Eva, Jtryptch, and Matthew! I have never done a cover reveal thread before, maybe for book 3!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Awesome cover, Adair! I'm glad to know there are some good sf artists out there for covers. Helps my plans for next year. Best of luck with it!



M Adams said:


> I love the idea of a Newbie Support Thread, or a Class of 2015 thread. I'm so new, I'm still trying to navigate this forum! Is there a tutorial on formatting a post, inserting a signature, etc?


Welcome, Magdalena. In addition to the thread Adair linked to, you can hover your mouse over the Authors drop-down menu at the top of the page and select stuff from there. I found it super-useful when pulling my book page and signature together.


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> Awesome cover, Adair! I'm glad to know there are some good sf artists out there for covers. Helps my plans for next year. Best of luck with it!
> 
> Welcome, Magdalena. In addition to the thread Adair linked to, you can hover your mouse over the Authors drop-down menu at the top of the page and select stuff from there. I found it super-useful when pulling my book page and signature together.


Thanks Jim! I really like your font choice on your covers and your series title design with the crossed pistols above a pyramid. I just picked up Ranger Mayat for my TBR pile! I love the theme of ancient Egypt (Stargate fan here!) and it is actually part of the setting in my third book. Thinking my third cover will have my protagonist's ship flying above and toward pyramids.


----------



## Maeve in Texas

Hello! I published my first novella last week, and I've sold 4! I just have to tell someone. Carry on


----------



## Matthew Stott

Maeve in Texas said:


> Hello! I published my first novella last week, and I've sold 4! I just have to tell someone. Carry on


Well done!


----------



## Guest

Hello Magdelena,

Welcome to the Newbie thread! 

Check out this thread for forum signatures and the like. http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,46766.msg813289.html#msg813289


----------



## Guest

Maeve in Texas said:


> Hello! I published my first novella last week, and I've sold 4! I just have to tell someone. Carry on


Congratulations!!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Adair Hart said:


> Thanks Jim! I really like your font choice on your covers and your series title design with the crossed pistols above a pyramid. I just picked up Ranger Mayat for my TBR pile! I love the theme of ancient Egypt (Stargate fan here!) and it is actually part of the setting in my third book. Thinking my third cover will have my protagonist's ship flying above and toward pyramids.


Awesome, thank you! Did you like the movie Stargate, the TV series, or both? I loved the movie and thought the first few seasons of the TV show were pretty good, up to about season 8 or so. I didn't get into Atlantis or whatever the last series was.

I'll send the good words to my cover designer. He and I slaved over the logo and cover design for a while. I'm grabbing a copy of your book tomorrow when I have my Kindle handy. I love the graphic work you did inside the file--the Look Inside looks great. Once I get some more experience under my belt, I'd like to dress up my ebooks a little more. Thanks for the inspiration.

Good luck with your books!


----------



## Ian Jaymes

Hi all!

Been here since January, put out a few short stories in the first half of the year...  But I've been paying attention, and just released part one of a new serial, have parts 2 and 3 almost ready, got the website and mailing list going this week, and here I go!  

Well, back to the writing, I just wanted to say hello!


----------



## Cherise

sakurajima said:


> Hi all!
> 
> Been here since January, put out a few short stories in the first half of the year... But I've been paying attention, and just released part one of a new serial, have parts 2 and 3 almost ready, got the website and mailing list going this week, and here I go!
> 
> Well, back to the writing, I just wanted to say hello!


Hello!


----------



## Adair Hart

Welcome Maeve from Texas and congratulations on your sales. Also welcome Sakurajima!



Jim Johnson said:


> Awesome, thank you! Did you like the movie Stargate, the TV series, or both? I loved the movie and thought the first few seasons of the TV show were pretty good, up to about season 8 or so. I didn't get into Atlantis or whatever the last series was.
> 
> I'll send the good words to my cover designer. He and I slaved over the logo and cover design for a while. I'm grabbing a copy of your book tomorrow when I have my Kindle handy. I love the graphic work you did inside the file--the Look Inside looks great. Once I get some more experience under my belt, I'd like to dress up my ebooks a little more. Thanks for the inspiration.
> 
> Good luck with your books!


I loved the movie, and devoured the SG1 and Atlantis series. I wasn't too much of a fan of the last one which was Stargate Universe, but watched most of its first season before I had BSG withdrawals  I felt like SG1 was a great take on Earth's expansion into space. I felt Atlantis was more along the lines of "What would humanity do if dropped into a new galaxy". Although my series is more Dr. Who inspired than stargate, it has elements of it that I really liked , in particular how Humanity would react when faced with aliens posing as gods. In fact my second book addresses what happens to humans that have been abducted then freed (think Free Jaffa!). You might also recognize a stargate element in the first book (think Replicators!)

That's awesome you have a good relationship with your cover designer. I love working with those whose personality gels with your own, everything is so much more pleasant. For my look inside, I hired fellow kboarder Colleen Sheehan from Write, Dream, Repeat. We work well together and looking forward to her doing my second book in December.

I am reading several books at once (Patty Jansen's shifting reality and Salvador Mercer's Lunar Discovery atm), but took a break to finish Eamon Ambroses second book (awesome read!) since it was shorter, and onto yours now! So many good books from authors here to read. (Matthew, I will be adding yours to my TBR as well!) *grabs a cup of coffee!*


----------



## Matthew Stott

Adair Hart said:


> I am reading several books at once (Patty Jansen's shifting reality and Salvador Mercer's Lunar Discovery atm), but took a break to finish Eamon Ambroses second book (awesome read!) since it was shorter, and onto yours now! So many good books from authors here to read. (Matthew, I will be adding yours to my TBR as well!) *grabs a cup of coffee!*


Oh, cool! Ta! I have yours and Jim's ready to go at some point. I've also already read both bits of Eamons' story so far, and they're brilliant. Some very good writers knocking around, here!


----------



## Matthew Stott

On the first day of my 'Sixty-Six' giveaway, I had 72 downloads, which isn't too bad, though as I sent it out to my list of 250 people, I kinda expected to see a few more than that..! Looking at the mailout stats at the moment, only 22 people actually clicked through to Amazon so far, which is a bit surprising. Can;t even give this thing away..! 

Facebook ads seem to be doing okay, each click through is costing my around 0.11p. I have a Freebooksy on it for Thursday, so hopefully that will see a lot of activity.


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Matthew Stott said:


> Oh, cool! Ta! I have yours and Jim's ready to go at some point. I've also already read both bits of Eamons' story so far, and they're brilliant. Some very good writers knocking around, here!


Thanks guys appreciate the support. Haven't had a chance to read Adair's book yet but hope to soon. I can't recommend Matthew's highly enough it's fantastic. There is some amazing Indie stuff coming up lately it's very encouraging


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> On the first day of my 'Sixty-Six' giveaway, I had 72 downloads, which isn't too bad, though as I sent it out to my list of 250 people, I kinda expected to see a few more than that..! Looking at the mailout stats at the moment, only 22 people actually clicked through to Amazon so far, which is a bit surprising. Can;t even give this thing away..!
> 
> Facebook ads seem to be doing okay, each click through is costing my around 0.11p. I have a Freebooksy on it for Thursday, so hopefully that will see a lot of activity.


Hang in there. That's actually not a terrible click through rate, though I understand your frustration. When I send stuff out to my list (Which is 445) I have about 100 people click. So not what we want but its still more people than we might have had if we didn't have our list!

So my Kindle Scout romance novel went live last night on Kindle Scout. I will keep y'all updated on the process. I don't know how likely I am to get it but I am hoping it gets my pen name some exposure.

Check it out if you're so inclined! https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3IUMSDRFVYBZ0


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Hang in there. That's actually not a terrible click through rate, though I understand your frustration. When I send stuff out to my list (Which is 445) I have about 100 people click. So not what we want but its still more people than we might have had if we didn't have our list!
> 
> So my Kindle Scout romance novel went live last night on Kindle Scout. I will keep y'all updated on the process. I don't know how likely I am to get it but I am hoping it gets my pen name some exposure.
> 
> Check it out if you're so inclined! https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3IUMSDRFVYBZ0


I nominated it, and I shared the book on my Twitter. Good luck with it!


----------



## Adair Hart

Jolie du Pre said:


> I nominated it, and I shared the book on my Twitter. Good luck with it!


Same except for the twitter part, I don't have an account on twitter yet!  Good luck!


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> Hang in there. That's actually not a terrible click through rate, though I understand your frustration. When I send stuff out to my list (Which is 445) I have about 100 people click. So not what we want but its still more people than we might have had if we didn't have our list!
> 
> So my Kindle Scout romance novel went live last night on Kindle Scout. I will keep y'all updated on the process. I don't know how likely I am to get it but I am hoping it gets my pen name some exposure.
> 
> Check it out if you're so inclined! https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3IUMSDRFVYBZ0


I suppose this is something we'll learn over the next few years, not the importance on having a giant mailing list, but having a truly engaged mailing list.

I have also voted for yours! Good luck.

In other news, I hit a new milestone: My first mailing list UNsubscriber!


----------



## Guest

Thanks for the votes, y'all! And the tweets! Very kind of you. 

Matthew-- YES. I am learning just having a big number of subscribes is not as important as how engaged they are. I am considering cleaning my list a bit. Which I hate to do but if someone isn't opening the emails much less clicking on anything, what's the point? I know Jolie has mentioned doing that in the past.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> Thanks for the votes, y'all! And the tweets! Very kind of you.
> 
> Matthew-- YES. I am learning just having a big number of subscribes is not as important as how engaged they are. I am considering cleaning my list a bit. Which I hate to do but if someone isn't opening the emails much less clicking on anything, what's the point? I know Jolie has mentioned doing that in the past.


Yeah, I think I'm going to check the stats every, say, fourth email. If someone hasn't opened at least one of the last four, then makes sense to trim them.


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## Jim Johnson

Newbie milestones--first external blog promo posted (thanks, SpecFicShowcase!), first five-star review, first mailing list add-on who I don't know personally. Baby steps, but even baby steps cover some ground. 

Oh, and pretty sure all of those are thanks to kboards, so thanks kboards people and admins and moderators. This is a good place.


----------



## mel p

Matthew Stott said:


> On the first day of my 'Sixty-Six' giveaway, I had 72 downloads, which isn't too bad, though as I sent it out to my list of 250 people, I kinda expected to see a few more than that..! Looking at the mailout stats at the moment, only 22 people actually clicked through to Amazon so far, which is a bit surprising. Can;t even give this thing away..!
> 
> Facebook ads seem to be doing okay, each click through is costing my around 0.11p. I have a Freebooksy on it for Thursday, so hopefully that will see a lot of activity.


I was one of the downloads yesterday, but got it from your signature here on kb. Loved your story! Can I ask how many words that was? I'm working on a short story and I was curious as to how many pages it might be once I actually publish. I understand that everyone seems to be different, but I'm just hoping for an approximation....


----------



## Matthew Stott

mel p said:


> I was one of the downloads yesterday, but got it from your signature here on kb. Loved your story! Can I ask how many words that was? I'm working on a short story and I was curious as to how many pages it might be once I actually publish. I understand that everyone seems to be different, but I'm just hoping for an approximation....


Oh, thanks very much! 

Sixty-Six is a little over 13,000 words. So it's on the longer side of short stories, I guess.


----------



## mel p

Matthew Stott said:


> Sixty-Six is a little over 13,000 words. So it's on the longer side of short stories, I guess.


Awesome, I just realized that you referred to it as a novelette...what is the cut off from short story to novelette? That is different than a novella?

And again, I really enjoyed it!


----------



## KDKinney

Matthew Stott said:


> Yeah, I think I'm going to check the stats every, say, fourth email. If someone hasn't opened at least one of the last four, then makes sense to trim them.


I will admit I haven't started a mailing list yet because I'm struggling with Mailchimp and my blog. My blog wasn't loading again yesterday. Grrr...

I have some advice before you all purge your lists, Give the people time. At least wait months. I have 5 kids-3 of them are considered adults now. They all live nearby. Two are still in High School and jr high. It depends on the time of year how engaged I am in extra stuff in my email. For months I've been busy with the two kids in extra-curricular activities. The next 2 months one will be starting another sport and it is Thanksgiving-I'm hosting dinner at my house and then there is getting ready for Christmas. In January everything calms down and I have time to catch up my stuff, fresh writing, looking at things I've been putting off and my things become my priority.

My point in oversharing is, don't worry so much if someone doesn't open your emails after so many are sent. Think of the time of year, remember some of your subscribers might have months that are uber busy. With high school kids it lasts much longer than younger grades.

If they subscribed, they probably wanted to. It is noise in their inbox and they might be overlooking it or just not have time to read, but later perhaps an email shows up at the right time and then they catch up on all the things they've missed. After 6 months or so, maybe look at it. Make sure you give it time. I still intend to read Mark Dawson's emails and a few others. I like having them there even though I haven't read them all just yet.

There is one guy that seems to think I should read the emails he sends every couple days and asks me why I'm not reading his emails or watching his videos right when he sends them. I will get to it when I get to it.


----------



## Matthew Stott

mel p said:


> Awesome, I just realized that you referred to it as a novelette...what is the cut off from short story to novelette? That is different than a novella?
> 
> And again, I really enjoyed it!


I think a short story can go up to 9/10 thousand or so, and then you can switch to calling it a novelette. 18,000+, you're looking at more of a novella length.

(Oh, and thanks again!!)


----------



## Matthew Stott

KDKinney said:


> I have some advice before you all purge your lists, Give the people time. At least wait months.
> 
> If they subscribed, they probably wanted to. It is noise in their inbox and they might be overlooking it or just not have time to read, but later perhaps an email shows up at the right time and then they catch up on all the things they've missed. After 6 months or so, maybe look at it. Make sure you give it time. I still intend to read Mark Dawson's emails and a few others. I like having them there even though I haven't read them all just yet.


Thanks, probably good advice. I think it's important to purge at some point, but perhaps not to jump the gun. Give 'em a chance!


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

BelleAC said:


> Hang in there. That's actually not a terrible click through rate, though I understand your frustration. When I send stuff out to my list (Which is 445) I have about 100 people click. So not what we want but its still more people than we might have had if we didn't have our list!
> 
> So my Kindle Scout romance novel went live last night on Kindle Scout. I will keep y'all updated on the process. I don't know how likely I am to get it but I am hoping it gets my pen name some exposure.
> 
> Check it out if you're so inclined! https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3IUMSDRFVYBZ0


Nominated and shared. Good luck, Belle!


----------



## Guest

GhostGirlWriter said:


> Nominated and shared. Good luck, Belle!


Wow! Thanks, GhostGirl! That was above and beyond. I appreciate it!

For any other newbs curious about the process (so far) here is how it has worked:

-- I submitted my edited manuscript on Sunday evening. It was approved Monday afternoon and launched last night at midnight.
-- 12 other books were launched today as well, one of which is already in the Hot and Trending
-- Stats only get updated once a day (TORTURE) and the two stats to concentrate on are Hours in Hot and Trending and Page Views
-- I BELIEVE they update the Hot and Trending every hour. We have an awesome thread here on Kindle Scout. I highly recommend! It's always on the first page.
-- My book will be up 29 days. After that I will get an email within 48 hours or so letting me know if I was selected. The cool thing is this... Even if I am not selected and I publish my book, Amazon will email all the folks who nominated the book so they know its available. So it's a great consolation prize, even if I am not picked.

Hope this helps any newbs who are thinking of submitting to Kindle Scout.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> For any other newbs curious about the process (so far) here is how it has worked:
> 
> -- I submitted my edited manuscript on Sunday evening. It was approved Monday afternoon and launched last night at midnight.
> -- 12 other books were launched today as well, one of which is already in the Hot and Trending
> -- Stats only get updated once a day (TORTURE) and the two stats to concentrate on are Hours in Hot and Trending and Page Views
> -- I BELIEVE they update the Hot and Trending every hour. We have an awesome thread here on Kindle Scout. I highly recommend! It's always on the first page.
> -- My book will be up 29 days. After that I will get an email within 48 hours or so letting me know if I was selected. The cool thing is this... Even if I am not selected and I publish my book, Amazon will email all the folks who nominated the book so they know its available. So it's a great consolation prize, even if I am not picked.
> 
> Hope this helps any newbs who are thinking of submitting to Kindle Scout.


Thanks for letting us know how this works. I'm busy with my other books, at the moment. However, I'll keep this in mind for the future.


----------



## KDKinney

BelleAC said:


> Wow! Thanks, GhostGirl! That was above and beyond. I appreciate it!
> 
> For any other newbs curious about the process (so far) here is how it has worked:
> 
> -- I submitted my edited manuscript on Sunday evening. It was approved Monday afternoon and launched last night at midnight.
> -- 12 other books were launched today as well, one of which is already in the Hot and Trending
> -- Stats only get updated once a day (TORTURE) and the two stats to concentrate on are Hours in Hot and Trending and Page Views
> -- I BELIEVE they update the Hot and Trending every hour. We have an awesome thread here on Kindle Scout. I highly recommend! It's always on the first page.
> -- My book will be up 29 days. After that I will get an email within 48 hours or so letting me know if I was selected. The cool thing is this... Even if I am not selected and I publish my book, Amazon will email all the folks who nominated the book so they know its available. So it's a great consolation prize, even if I am not picked.
> 
> Hope this helps any newbs who are thinking of submitting to Kindle Scout.


I want to nominate you too but would it help if I waited till tomorrow so you get more nominations spread out or is it best to get the most nominations today?


----------



## Guest

KDKinney said:


> I want to nominate you too but would it help if I waited till tomorrow so you get more nominations spread out or is it best to get the most nominations today?


You are so kind! You nominate any day you want! They kind of keep the nominations (as in number of and how many it takes to get into Hot and Trending) close to their chest, so I am not worried about when you do it. I just appreciate you doing it at all. There are a couple of other KBers who are in their last days on there that could use nominations too if you have a couple of spaces left. Thank you!


----------



## KDKinney

BelleAC said:


> You are so kind! You nominate any day you want! They kind of keep the nominations (as in number of and how many it takes to get into Hot and Trending) close to their chest, so I am not worried about when you do it. I just appreciate you doing it at all. There are a couple of other KBers who are in their last days on there that could use nominations too if you have a couple of spaces left. Thank you!


Thanks for that reminder too. I'll have to hop over to the Kindle Scout thread.


----------



## Guest

Hello! Popping in with one of my updates. 

1. The free story I wrote for my mailing list subscribers is finished. I'm sending it over to my editor. My cover designer is currently completing the cover and will be done with it soon.

2. I enrolled in Mark Dawson's Facebook ads course. It's pricey but worth it.

http://www.selfpublishingformula.com

If you want to sign-up, do it now before Mark closes the course.

I'm leaving for Jamaica in a week and a half. So I'll be diving into the course when I get back (mid-November) and then I'll set up my ads and give away my free story to my newsletter subscribers.

3. I'm publishing four vampire novellas in December on the same day. My editor is currently working on the edits. My cover designer is currently finishing up the covers. (More novellas and covers coming after the first four.) The biggest mistake I made with my zombie books was not sticking to a consistent publishing schedule after I hit my four figures goal. That won't happen again. My goal, after the first four, is to publish two novellas a month, every month.

That's it for now. Happy Writing!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Enjoy your vacation, Jolie!


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Hello! Popping in with one of my updates.
> 
> 1. The free story I wrote for my mailing list subscribers is finished. I'm sending it over to my editor. My cover designer is currently completing the cover and will be done with it soon.
> 
> 2. I enrolled in Mark Dawson's Facebook ads course. It's pricey but worth it.
> 
> http://www.selfpublishingformula.com
> 
> If you want to sign-up, do it now before Mark closes the course.
> 
> I'm leaving for Jamaica in a week and a half. So I'll be diving into the course when I get back (mid-November) and then I'll set up my ads and give away my free story to my newsletter subscribers.
> 
> 3. I'm publishing four vampire novellas in December on the same day. My editor is currently working on the edits. My cover designer is currently finishing up the covers. (More novellas and covers coming after the first four.) The biggest mistake I made with my zombie books was not sticking to a consistent publishing schedule after I hit my four figures goal. That won't happen again. My goal, after the first four, is to publish two novellas a month, every month.
> 
> That's it for now. Happy Writing!


I am so insanely jealous of your trip to Jamaica. I hope you have the best time! Especially since you've clearly been putting some serious work in.

I am also super stoked to see how you do publishing the four books on the same day because I plan on doing that in December as well. (But it will be 3 novels instead of 4.) This will be a cool thing to experiment with.

I almost signed up for Mark Dawson's course but right now I need to watch the budget. I know he's worth it though, and I hope to be able to do it next time it opens up.

Love hearing how you're doing, Jolie!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Hello! Popping in with one of my updates.
> 
> 1. The free story I wrote for my mailing list subscribers is finished. I'm sending it over to my editor. My cover designer is currently completing the cover and will be done with it soon.
> 
> 2. I enrolled in Mark Dawson's Facebook ads course. It's pricey but worth it.
> 
> http://www.selfpublishingformula.com
> 
> If you want to sign-up, do it now before Mark closes the course.
> 
> I'm leaving for Jamaica in a week and a half. So I'll be diving into the course when I get back (mid-November) and then I'll set up my ads and give away my free story to my newsletter subscribers.
> 
> 3. I'm publishing four vampire novellas in December on the same day. My editor is currently working on the edits. My cover designer is currently finishing up the covers. (More novellas and covers coming after the first four.) The biggest mistake I made with my zombie books was not sticking to a consistent publishing schedule after I hit my four figures goal. That won't happen again. My goal, after the first four, is to publish two novellas a month, every month.
> 
> That's it for now. Happy Writing!


Ooh, super busy! I'd love to publish lots at the same time like that. I think at some point next year I'll give it a go. At one point, i thought about doing that as my first entrance into indie publishing. Perhaps I should have...

Would also have liked to do Mark's course (I've been experimenting with some success with Facebook ads myself) but after splashing out hundreds already this month, my credit card needs a breather..!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Matthew Stott said:


> Preparing for a big push on Sixty-Six, which I'm releasing and then making free Tues-Sat, so the week up to and including Halloween. I'm of course hoping for lots of downloads over the week, but I'm going to set a modest target of 100 free downloads. That way, anything over is huge victory.


Hit 100 free downloads! 
Have my first Freebooksy ad tomorrow for it, should be interesting to see how many fly out... Be nice to double the amount so far.


----------



## Guest

Thanks, everyone!



BelleAC said:


> I am also super stoked to see how you do publishing the four books on the same day because I plan on doing that in December as well. (But it will be 3 novels instead of 4.) This will be a cool thing to experiment with.


I look forward to seeing your results! I'll post mine, as well.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Newbie milestones: figuring out Facebook ads and getting the first book registered with the US Copyright office. Online forms were super easy. Finalizing book 2 to make sure I make the pre-order date, and finalizing book 3. Also edits on 4 and 5, and starting work on a new series. No rest for the weary!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Not sure when they send out the email, but I see Freebooksy has posted a link featuring Sixty-Six on Facebook...
Now to see how many click and download...

EDIT: Ha, just as i post, my phone vibrates: it's the Freebooksy email.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> Newbie milestones: figuring out Facebook ads


I've been fiddling with those myself in the last few weeks. Just to push free stuff, though. Lead Gen ads seem to do the business. Currently running an add that links straight to Amazon for the Sixty-Six freebie; getting about one click every 18p spent.


----------



## Jim Johnson

This is what newbie practice looks like:










First, how awesome is it that my ad reached over 9,000 people? Boggling.

But, given the other stats, I'm happy to see I have plenty to learn about optimizing FB ads. Gotta keep at it and keep learning. Always forward!

Hope everyone's having a good day and week.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Well, I guess Freebooksy works. Used it yesterday for the first time (on one of their smaller lists, 'Horror') and saw 1500 free copies snapped up. Didn't really keep an eye on things, so not sure about how high it went in the rankings, but it got at least close to the top 100 free books when I did have a look.

Not expecting much of a tail, I didn't pay for any more ads to follow. I did see a small bump in mailing list sign-ups overnight, though, so that's good.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Well, I guess Freebooksy works. Used it yesterday for the first time (on one of their smaller lists, 'Horror') and saw 1500 free copies snapped up. Didn't really keep an eye on things, so not sure about how high it went in the rankings, but it got at least close to the top 100 free books when I did have a look.
> 
> Not expecting much of a tail, I didn't pay for any more ads to follow. I did see a small bump in mailing list sign-ups overnight, though, so that's good.


Definitely good to get some newsletter sign ups!


----------



## Guest

Newbies... Just want to give you an update on Kindle Scout so far. (I will do this once a week until the campaign is over but the Kindle Scout Experiences thread is awesome too)

I was Hot and Trending for 27/48 hours so far. I think this is good? I am not Hot and Trending right now. They have 12-13 new books come on the scene every 2 days so its hard to stay visible without some serious push with social media.

They update your stats every morning at 510 am EDT. 

Otherwise... It's just a waiting game! So we will see. I'm just going to appreciate the exposure and try not to expect anything.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> Definitely good to get some newsletter sign ups!


I've had about 15 in the last few days, so having the link in the free book definitely worked.

My freebie week ends tonight for Sixty-Six, if I'd have scheduled more promo after the Freebooksy, it would have carried on storming, i reckon. But no matter, I've still given away 2000 copies so far, on that one ad alone (Well, plus a few pounds on a Facebook ad). It makes me very excited for what will happen next week, with my big promo push on A Monstrous Place. A bookBub, Freebooksy, and ENT promo, one after the other, plus other smaller ones squashed around it. Judging by how well Sixty-Six went, I think I'm going to move... I don't even know how many free copies. I'm wondering, with all that muscle behind it, whether it will get close to 10,000 copies shifted.


----------



## Adair Hart

Jolie, Have a great vacation in Jamaica! You''re a machine!

Jim, was that screenshot you posted from the lead generation thing I am hearing about in facebook ads? I have been experimenting with it and didn't see anything like that. 

Matthew, you are a madman on newsletter signups!

Allison, appreciate your updates on Kindle Scout! I'll check out that thread you mentioned and see if anyone else needs nominations. I don't know if there is a limit, but it shows three slots when I am on the Kindle Scout page. 

I posted another thread on my first KCD promo going on now. Not fully sure what to expect, but hoping for the best! Also got back my manuscript from phase 1 copyedit and am in full revision mode now. Also trying to finalize the audiobook cover with my cover artist's guidance! Busy time!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Adair Hart said:


> Jim, was that screenshot you posted from the lead generation thing I am hearing about in facebook ads? I have been experimenting with it and didn't see anything like that.


Not exactly. I started fiddling with Facebook ads before I found out about Mark Dawson's course and webinar and stuff. I had posted to my FB page about my new release, and decided to try spending a little money to 'boost' the post with my promotion of the new book link. So I spent $20 'lifetime' to see what would happen in a week. I fiddled with the target audience and picked USA, UK, and Australia, then sat back to see what happened. I got a ton of views (15,000+), a lot of 'likes' to the post, but no sales as far as I can tell. Possibly some KU page reads, but it's hard to determine that as well. I used my Amazon affiliate link in the post, and I can see through that site that I got a lot of clicks, but no product sales or conversions.

So I like that a lot of people saw the ad, but I know I need to fiddle with the system more to get better results. I also didn't have anything to give away and the book was at full price. I think I'll try a targeted ad next time, and time it with a Select free day run to make it a more enticing offer. Experimenting and learning.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> Not exactly. I started fiddling with Facebook ads before I found out about Mark Dawson's course and webinar and stuff. I had posted to my FB page about my new release, and decided to try spending a little money to 'boost' the post with my promotion of the new book link. So I spent $20 'lifetime' to see what would happen in a week. I fiddled with the target audience and picked USA, UK, and Australia, then sat back to see what happened. I got a ton of views (15,000+), a lot of 'likes' to the post, but no sales as far as I can tell. Possibly some KU page reads, but it's hard to determine that as well. I used my Amazon affiliate link in the post, and I can see through that site that I got a lot of clicks, but no product sales or conversions.
> 
> So I like that a lot of people saw the ad, but I know I need to fiddle with the system more to get better results. I also didn't have anything to give away and the book was at full price. I think I'll try a targeted ad next time, and time it with a Select free day run to make it a more enticing offer. Experimenting and learning.


Yeah, if you're not a 'name', or don't have an enticing, cheap looking 'box set', Facebook ads work better for directing people to free things and Mailing List sign ups. I ran Facebook ads for a few days directing straight to Amazon for Sixty-Six and saw a couple of hundred people click through. Did similar directing to my Mailing List sign up, with Monstrous as the free enticement, and got round 80 people to sign up.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Yeah, if you're not a 'name', or don't have an enticing, cheap looking 'box set', Facebook ads work better for directing people to free things and Mailing List sign ups.


Instead of waiting to start Dawson's course, I started it this weekend. I'm learning things to do that I haven't done before. I'm confident my ads will be successful for not only mailing list sign ups *but also* for driving sales.


----------



## Matthew Stott

OOH. This week is my BookBub/Ent/Freebooksy week on Monstrous. Starts Wednesday with a genre pulse promo, before Monstrous turns free for three days and the other ads kick in. Exciting!

In other news, I've finished the latest draft of The Identical Boy (cover in sig) ready to send to the editor. Which should mean I'll hopefully have it available within a couple of weeks. It might be one of the grimmest 'kids' book ever written...!   

Then, onto finishing the third 'Between' book.


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Added a new shiny cover to my signature today!
The second novel in my Ascendancy Trilogy is up for pre-order! Squee!

Now, to finish the edits...


----------



## Matthew Stott

Veronica Sicoe said:


> Added a new shiny cover to my signature today!
> The second novel in my Ascendancy Trilogy is up for pre-order! Squee!
> 
> Now, to finish the edits...


Well done!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Well, today starts my big ad push on A Monstrous Place, starting with Genre Pulse, whilst the book is still listed as a paid for item. Then it goes free, and things will get interesting...  
I guess I'll start one of them there ever popular promo threads to document what happens.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Matthew Stott said:


> Well, today starts my big ad push on A Monstrous Place, starting with Genre Pulse, whilst the book is still listed as a paid for item. Then it goes free, and things will get interesting...
> I guess I'll start when of them there ever popular promo threads to document what happens.


Interested to hear how that works out!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Finished the covers for Books 1 and 2 of my Sci-Fi Fantasy series. Can't wait to release them in Jan and Feb.


----------



## Guest

Awesome new covers, everyone!  Matthew, good luck with your Bookbub promotion!


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Matthew Stott said:


> Well, today starts my big ad push on A Monstrous Place, starting with Genre Pulse, whilst the book is still listed as a paid for item. Then it goes free, and things will get interesting...
> I guess I'll start one of them there ever popular promo threads to document what happens.


The best of luck!!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Thanks, all; and love those covers, Luke.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Matthew Stott said:


> Thanks, all; and love those covers, Luke.


Thanks mate!

Also, just playing with the third book to round off the trilogy.


----------



## WDProsapio

Congrats Veronica!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

WDProsapio said:


> Congrats Veronica!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thank you!


----------



## Adair Hart

Veronica Sicoe said:


> Added a new shiny cover to my signature today!
> The second novel in my Ascendancy Trilogy is up for pre-order! Squee!
> 
> Now, to finish the edits...


Congratulations Veronica!

Luke, like your covers! Are you going to add the trilogy sequence number on them or go as is?


----------



## Matthew Stott

For those not looking in on my thread, the news on the Bookbub is that so far I've shifted over 4000 copies of A Monstrous Place and have managed to creep in to the top 100 free chart. Which is pretty swish..! 
As I'm in the UK, I suppose this will carry on a while whilst I toddle off to bed, so it'll be fun to see if I've shifted many more by morning. Then tomorrow, I've got ENT and a few others to try and keep the thing going.


----------



## Adair Hart

Matthew Stott said:


> For those not looking in on my thread, the news on the Bookbub is that so far I've shifted over 4000 copies of A Monstrous Place and have managed to creep in to the top 100 free chart. Which is pretty swish..!
> As I'm in the UK, I suppose this will carry on a while whilst I toddle off to bed, so it'll be fun to see if I've shifted many more by morning. Then tomorrow, I've got ENT and a few others to try and keep the thing going.


Awesome Matthew!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Adair Hart said:


> Congratulations Veronica!
> 
> Luke, like your covers! Are you going to add the trilogy sequence number on them or go as is?


huh ... I never even thought about it. I'll probably add them.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> For those not looking in on my thread, the news on the Bookbub is that so far I've shifted over 4000 copies of A Monstrous Place and have managed to creep in to the top 100 free chart. Which is pretty swish..!
> As I'm in the UK, I suppose this will carry on a while whilst I toddle off to bed, so it'll be fun to see if I've shifted many more by morning. Then tomorrow, I've got ENT and a few others to try and keep the thing going.


You're killing it! Congratulations!


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> For those not looking in on my thread, the news on the Bookbub is that so far I've shifted over 4000 copies of A Monstrous Place and have managed to creep in to the top 100 free chart. Which is pretty swish..!
> As I'm in the UK, I suppose this will carry on a while whilst I toddle off to bed, so it'll be fun to see if I've shifted many more by morning. Then tomorrow, I've got ENT and a few others to try and keep the thing going.


I'm so stoked for you! So well deserved. What a great week for you!


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> I'm so stoked for you! So well deserved. What a great week for you!


Thanks! I ended up with over 7000 downloaded on the bookbub day, which is rather nice!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Matthew Stott said:


> Thanks! I ended up with over 7000 downloaded on the bookbub day, which is rather nice!


Sounds awesome! Well done man!


----------



## Eamon Ambrose

Matthew Stott said:


> Thanks! I ended up with over 7000 downloaded on the bookbub day, which is rather nice!


Sorry, I totally missed all this - well done Matt that was a great result! 
Good news from me - I got asked to contribute a story for Samuel Peralta's Future Chronicles anthology series which I'm very excited about. The current one released this week is now at number one in Sci-fi Anthologies, so it's a great stepping stone.
On the Zero Hour front, I'm almost done with part 3 and hope to get it out in the next two weeks. Part one still selling really well and it's been in the top 10 of it's category since launch, with part 2 not too far behind. Based on my current output I hope to have the entire story finished and collected in an omnibus by end of February 2016 all going well.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Lukeofkondor said:


> Sounds awesome! Well done man!


Thanks! Another few thousand over the next few days, be interesting to see if there's any sort of short term effect over the next week now it's over.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eamon Ambrose said:


> Sorry, I totally missed all this - well done Matt that was a great result!
> Good news from me - I got asked to contribute a story for Samuel Peralta's Future Chronicles anthology series which I'm very excited about. The current one released this week is now at number one in Sci-fi Anthologies, so it's a great stepping stone.
> On the Zero Hour front, I'm almost done with part 3 and hope to get it out in the next two weeks. Part one still selling really well and it's been in the top 10 of it's category since launch, with part 2 not too far behind. Based on my current output I hope to have the entire story finished and collected in an omnibus by end of February 2016 all going well.


Thanks! And super cool news on Chronicles; you're obviously making waves fast.


----------



## Matthew Stott

So my 3-day free promo is done, and I ended up giving away over 12000 copies of a Monstrous Place...! So far had a few new mailing list sign-ups, and a couple of new 5 star reviews.

Today is the first day it's gone back to paid; I just checked and I've actually sold 15 copies already today! I know for some that's not many, but it's (by far) my most successful day since launch day, when friends and family bought their copies! I imagine it'll quickly drop again, but it'll be nice to actually sell a few books for a couple of days.

Now if only I could build something that could potentially, in some small way, have such an effect....


----------



## Jim Johnson

Modest newbie score for the day--finalized episode 2 and uploaded the final file well before the Amazon deadline for getting pre-order material uploaded. Onward to prepping episode 3 for its pre-order.


----------



## Bbates024

Jim Johnson said:


> Modest newbie score for the day--finalized episode 2 and uploaded the final file well before the Amazon deadline for getting pre-order material uploaded. Onward to prepping episode 3 for its pre-order.


AWESOME!

I'm working hard on my first serial right now. Going to launch episode one on Wednesday have episode two at the editor and three finished. I just need to get 4-5 done and it's all good.

Going to be another busy week!

That is a day in the life of self-publishing!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> Modest newbie score for the day--finalized episode 2 and uploaded the final file well before the Amazon deadline for getting pre-order material uploaded. Onward to prepping episode 3 for its pre-order.


Well done! I just sent off my second book in the Tales From Between series to the editor, so should be able to release that within a few weeks.

And BOY. Yesterday was FAR AND AWAY my best sales day. Like, six times as many as on my launch day. Still, relatively speaking, a small amount, but HUGE for me. I know this is just the tail from the free promos, and it'll very likely drop down into the dumps again within a few days, but it's really fun to see it peak for a little while. Had my first day over a thousand pages read on KU, too. Big free promos work!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Not content with relying solely on paid promo and our own mailing lists, myself and another author have started Genre Reader. It's a website, it's a mailing list, it's fun. Hoping it might build to be something useful for genre writers. And if it dies on its arse, I had nothing to do with it. 

http://genrereader.com/


----------



## Matthew Stott

OOF: Had my first one star review on Amazon. Odd one, basically the person it slating it for being a kids book. Apparently it's a 4 star kids book, but because they didn't know that's what it was, they're giving it a 1. I did put it in middle-grade and teen cats, and I feel like the cover indicates that it might be a kids book. And obviously, they'd have known if thy clicked the Look Inside. But oh well. I suppose they must have forked out their $0.99 without reading the Look Inside. But still. These are the sorts of reviews that drive authors mad, aren't they? The slightly unjustified feeling one stars.

Let it go, Matthew!  I did get a nice new 4 star review on Sixty-Six, to slightly mollify my butt-hurt-ness.

EDIT: Am bad, Read the one star again. Clicked on the person to see their other reviews. Also one stars. Mollified again.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> OOF: Had my first one star review on Amazon. Odd one, basically the person it slating it for being a kids book. Apparently it's a 4 star kids book, but because they didn't know that's what it was, they're giving it a 1. I did put it in middle-grade and teen cats, and I feel like the cover indicates that it might be a kids book. And obviously, they'd have known if thy clicked the Look Inside. But oh well. I suppose they must have forked out their $0.99 without reading the Look Inside. But still. These are the sorts of reviews that drive authors mad, aren't they? The slightly unjustified feeling one stars.
> 
> Let it go, Matthew!  I did get a nice new 4 star review on Sixty-Six, to slightly mollify my butt-hurt-ness.
> 
> EDIT: Am bad, Read the one star again. Clicked on the person to see their other reviews. Also one stars. Mollified again.


The one bad thing about a free promo is the one stars tend to come in from the people who downloaded it blindly and are somehow upset they downloaded something they didn't like or don't read. It's frustrating but, if anything, it legitimizes the book! And those kind of 1 stars never bother me because I know its not me. (But ugh it still sucks to have the average go down)

I am so glad you're having a great sales week!

So in my Kindle Scout news... I am officially halfway through my campaign. I'm doing eh... I don't even really know but I haven't been in Hot and Trending since Sunday. As of this morning I have 95 hours in Hot and Trending and 603 views. It seems most of the books picked tend to have at least 1200 views so I have my work cut out for me the next 2 weeks...


----------



## Michael Marnier

I've set up a repeat of a freebie ebook promo offered six weeks ago. This time, it will be broadcast with a Thunderclap.

What is Thunderclap? It's a new website that allows people to pledge to Tweet or Facebook a message all on the same day at the same time-to achieve maximum effect building awareness. It's like an online flash mob to raise awareness of my novel Trouble on the Straits. The thunderclap will occur on Thursday, November 26.

I need 100 suppoters for the Thunderclap to launch on Nov 26. Just 13 days away.

Click on this link ( *http://thndr.me/7wVgqI* ) and choose either "Support with Twitter" or "Support with Facebook" or both! Then, add your name to the Thunderclap and on November 26 everyone that signed up will automatically post on Facebook and Twitter. The message will be:

A former Navy SEAL finds Trouble on the Straits of Florida: sharks, treasure, drug cartels & more. Get a free copy. http://thndr.me/Llbat2"

Thunderclap will network supporter's Twitter and Facebook contacts to broadcast a few hundred thousand simultaneous posts. The link in the message goes to my Amazon ebook page. Hopefully, the buzz and awareness created will result in more downloads and, with luck, more reviews to boost Kindle store ranking.

Your help with TOTS thus far and for this new promotion is greatly appreciated. Please help. Click to start: *http://thndr.me/7wVgqI*


----------



## Matthew Stott

I interview the Newbie Threads own Eamon Ambrose here, for Genre Reader: http://genrereader.com/2015/11/13/interview-eamon-ambrose/
Now he is famous and women constantly throw themselves at him. True.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> The one bad thing about a free promo is the one stars tend to come in from the people who downloaded it blindly and are somehow upset they downloaded something they didn't like or don't read. It's frustrating but, if anything, it legitimizes the book! And those kind of 1 stars never bother me because I know its not me. (But ugh it still sucks to have the average go down)
> 
> I am so glad you're having a great sales week!


Very true! Just one of those things you have to learn to live with as you toss your precious words out there...!


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> I interview the Newbie Threads own Eamon Ambrose here, for Genre Reader: http://genrereader.com/2015/11/13/interview-eamon-ambrose/
> Now he is famous and women constantly throw themselves at him. True.


Hmm, sounds interesting, how many stories does one have to contribute per year for that site to be part of it?

On another note I just finished my manuscript for the first book in a post apocalyptic trilogy. This time I pulled out all the stops- its got a mix of horror, sci-fi, mysticism, occult, metaphysics, war and politics with a little over 120K words. If this doesn't do well I'm quitting!


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> Hmm, sounds interesting, how many stories does one have to contribute per year for that site to be part of it?
> 
> On another note I just finished my manuscript for the first book in a post apocalyptic trilogy. This time I pulled out all the stops- its got a mix of horror, sci-fi, mysticism, occult, metaphysics, war and politics with a little over 120K words. If this doesn't do well I'm quitting!


Hey! You just have to be able to offer one story/novel/novella/WHATEVER to our list for one of the monthly freebie emails. Obviously, it needs to be genre, by which I mean in some way sci-fi, horror, fantasy, that sort of thing.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Bit of an 'oh crap' moment. For my BoobBub, i put the next in series up as a preorder. The time when I need my last version in is now locked. The book is in with the editor, and I'm waiting to get it back. But... I now think I need a new ending. I only have until next Friday to upload. I don;t know quite what the ending should be other than a few people have mentioned it's not the sort of ending that will fly well, possibly, with the books age group. Meaning, it's not exactly a 'happy' ending. NOW CONFLICTED. Do i try and change the end to give it a rosier glow when you're done? Do I stick to the tougher ending. GAH?!
People could have brought this up a month ago!


----------



## Dan D. Lion

Thank you for starting a Newbie Support Thread. Is this the best place to post for blurb advice on my book, Weeping Willow His Dandelion Queen? 
If not, please redirect me!

In my reading, I discovered this about Women's Fiction genre: Women's fiction -- stories about women experiencing emotional growth. Primary emotion: hope.

That being said, does my blurb below read well? Is the promise of an inspirational ending sorta like a spoiler? Would it be better to omit my final paragraph and leave women wondering how they are going to feel at the end?

_"You're only as sick as your secrets," Helen reminded her. Well, in that case, she was sick indeed. Childhood years had taught her to guard her obsessions and wandering thoughts. Most of her world was a secret. ADHD... letters attached to her at an early age, caused misguided loved ones to train her to harness the thoughts that set her mind traveling...

"Tell no one," Gramma warned, "they will all think you have gone mad."

Her health and her marriage headed to ruin, she continued in silence. "They won't believe me anyway," she sighed.

Masquerading as a mystery romance drama, this novel invites you to find yourself in the character(s). Love, laugh, cry with them, and leave hope-filled with the power of human kindness at the turning of the final page."_


----------



## NutritionCindy

Hi everyone.  I'm a total noob.  My NF book released 13 days ago so I have absolutely no idea whatsoever of what I'm doing!  Absolutely love this thread - I have learned so much from reading it.  I did try and insert the 'class of 2015' badge into my signature, but managed to stuff it up and just got the code showing.  Oh well.  
I didn't write my book with the intention of becoming an author.  I was just sharing our family's journey with chronic childhood illness, but the feedback I've had has been overwhelming!  I've even made over $50 so far from it so I can now afford to buy a bottle  of bubbly to celebrate! lol!
It has been an incredible journey so far, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the process.  I definitely have the writing bug now and am itching to start on my next book.  
I'd love to hear from other NF authors as it seems to be an ocean of fiction superstars in here. 
Thanks again for creating such an awesome community!


----------



## Azalea

Dan D. Lion said:


> Thank you for starting a Newbie Support Thread. Is this the best place to post for blurb advice on my book, Weeping Willow His Dandelion Queen?
> If not, please redirect me!


While we are always happy to help our fellow newbies, you'll probably get more eyes on your blurb and therefore more help if you post a new thread asking for blurb advice.

As for the actual blurb, I don't read women's fiction, so I can't tell you what type of blurb might draw those readers in. I'm sure someone else will know what they're talking about.


----------



## A.C Louis

Well, it's the first time I publish ANYTHING to Amazon. First day? 1 sell. But hey! It's a short story. Enrolling the ebook in KDP Select and offering it for free helped raising numbers a bit. Right now I'm just trying to get my work out there, so it's fine. It's just kind of scary when you think that a full scale novel might do just as bad... Hope not!


----------



## Guest

A.C Louis said:


> Well, it's the first time I publish ANYTHING to Amazon. First day? 1 sell. But hey! It's a short story. Enrolling the ebook in KDP Select and offering it for free helped raising numbers a bit. Right now I'm just trying to get my work out there, so it's fine. It's just kind of scary when you think that a full scale novel might do just as bad... Hope not!


The beginning is the hardest part. And the whole thing about success not being guaranteed. But keep writing! And publishing! I have found promo started working for me around book 3. I haven't promo'd at all in the last month and it shows. Promo is a must but it usually (in my opinion) works better once you have more stuff out. Good luck! And welcome!


----------



## TheLemontree

NutritionCindy said:


> Hi everyone. I'm a total noob. My NF book released 13 days ago so I have absolutely no idea whatsoever of what I'm doing! Absolutely love this thread - I have learned so much from reading it. I did try and insert the 'class of 2015' badge into my signature, but managed to stuff it up and just got the code showing. Oh well.
> I didn't write my book with the intention of becoming an author. I was just sharing our family's journey with chronic childhood illness, but the feedback I've had has been overwhelming! I've even made over $50 so far from it so I can now afford to buy a bottle of bubbly to celebrate! lol!
> It has been an incredible journey so far, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the process. I definitely have the writing bug now and am itching to start on my next book.
> I'd love to hear from other NF authors as it seems to be an ocean of fiction superstars in here.
> Thanks again for creating such an awesome community!


Welcome! There are a few of us NF writers here


----------



## Sever Bronny

Agreed, the beginning is the hardest part. You just have to persevere, and suck in as much information about how to do it successfully as you can to minimize the luck factor.

Good luck


----------



## Adair Hart

Welcome to all the new fellow prawns!

A.C Louis - hang in there. I launched two months ago and my first day had 0 sales!

NutritionCindy - If you need help with the badge shoot me a PM and congratulations on your first book!

Michael - Good Luck with your thunderclap!

Dan D Lion - I agree with Azalea on creating another thread for blurb help. When I was researching blurbs for my prawny book, I used https://supervillainsomeday.wordpress.com/tag/blurbs/ . He used to post here on kboards and dissected peoples blurbs. Bryan Cohen is also an option if you are looking at paid support.

Matthew - posted in your other thread for GenreReader but wanted to wish you the best of luck with your new site. It takes a lot of initiative to get something like that going and cool that you have an interview with Eamon Ambrose already! You also have Dr. Who stuff on there so +1!

BBates - God luck on your serial! I been following the mega serial thread for a while and the format intrigues me. I have a 6 part novella series I am beginning next year, but still debating if they will be standalone or serial.

Jim - Awesome on book 2! Book 1 was a great read, and looking forward to seeing what happens on the flight to the fort! I have it on preorder.

Belle/Sever - Great to see you two around!


----------



## Michael Marnier

Adair Hart said:


> Michael - Good Luck with your thunderclap!


Thanks, Adair. I'm getting nervous about reaching 100 supporters in time to launch. Only 8 so far and ten days left to get 92 more. TC won't launch unless I get 100.


----------



## Matthew Stott

I just realised yesterday that I'm on a hot streak! Well...a not completely freezing cold streak. 19 days with at least one sale or more per day. Of course, now I've mentioned this I'll hit zero again tomorrow....

The second book in my Between series (red one in my sig) is launching in a couple of weeks. Had to add a new ending at short notice, which was kind of 'oh crap!' but also kind of fun. To have to put myself under that pressure. In the end it came pretty easy, and I think it was the right move. Certainly for the type of book it is. A lesson learned!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Oh! And Newbie Thread superstar Jim Johnson is on Genre Reader today, check 'dis: http://genrereader.com/2015/11/16/pistols-pyramids-sneak-peek/


----------



## Jim Johnson

Thanks, Matt! 

In the meantime, working hard on the print layout for the series and finalizing edits on episodes 3 and 4. Hard at work researching a new series in a new genre as well.


----------



## Azalea

Matthew Stott said:


> I just realised yesterday that I'm on a hot streak! Well...a not completely freezing cold streak. 19 days with at least one sale or more per day.


One steady sale a day is a great thing! Soon you'll have more books out and those sales will start to add up, and then multiply each other. 



Jim Johnson said:


> Thanks, Matt!
> 
> In the meantime, working hard on the print layout for the series and finalizing edits on episodes 3 and 4. Hard at work researching a new series in a new genre as well.


I really like the strategy you're using, Jim. I've got something similar planned for after my second big novel comes out. Keep us updated on how everything's going for you! How many books/episodes do you plan to put out in the Pistols and Pyramids series?

And out of curiosity, care to tell us about your plans for this new series?


----------



## Jim Johnson

Azalea Ellis said:


> I really like the strategy you're using, Jim. I've got something similar planned for after my second big novel comes out. Keep us updated on how everything's going for you! How many books/episodes do you plan to put out in the Pistols and Pyramids series?
> 
> And out of curiosity, care to tell us about your plans for this new series?


For context, P&P is a 'for me' series. I'm writing it because I love the setting and the characters. I knew going in that weird western was a very niche subgenre. I'm writing it for the love and if I find some readers, huzzah! That being said, I have to finish the current 9-episode arc I'm in the middle of, and then I'll likely evaluate where it is and either continue with the monthly release schedule or change it up depending on where things are come June 2016.

P&P has been in my head for years, and there are several places in my notes where I've highlighted "100" as a good round number of episodes, but I have to evaluate that against some degree of reality. I need to think about how to package the series so that when it's in progress and then completed, how to sell it to readers who probably will look at 100x $2.99 episodes and balk. Having them in KU helps, because there's no added cost for a reader to binge-read everything, but I'm doing print versions as well, so I'll likely figure out how to set up omnibuses of decent length and price points to encourage non-KU readers to give it a go. Very much an experimental work in progress.

I'm still working out the second series, but it'll fit largely into the urban fantasy category. Much like P&P, I'm shooting for a niche within the subgenre and will sort of carve out my own thing and see what happens. Unlike P&P, I'll probably structure this series into more sensible chunks, like trilogies or maybe 6-episode seasons so that I can more easily bundle them up into omnibuses. I'm outlining and world-building and researching now, and will likely start writing the first MS in January, shooting for a spring or summer release.

Third series will likely be sword and sorcery medieval fantasy, and the fourth will be space opera. Variety of season structures and lengths in mind. I may do the space opera third, since next year is Star Trek's 50th anniversary and between that and the new SW movie, I'll be riding a space opera high and will likely want to channel into that.

Anyway, lots of ideas and plans over here, lol. Bottom line is I had laid out a business plan a couple years ago and now I'm working that plan, tweaking as I go.


----------



## Bbates024

The country blend is kind of taking off, Bone Tomahawk the move seemed to do very well as a horror western blend.

I know a lot of authors do some mild cross-genre swapping, it keeps things interesting and the readers seem to love it sometimes. I would say one of the people that does it super well is Lindsay Buroker, who mixes Steampunk and Magic/fantasy very well in her Dragonblood series.

I love this thread it motivates me to keep coming back, and to keep writing.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Bbates024 said:


> The country blend is kind of taking off, Bone Tomahawk the move seemed to do very well as a horror western blend.


Yeah, there are some new Western movies and new tradpub weird westerns coming out, as well as more indie weird westerns from folks on these boards and elsewhere. Our little niche is doing okay, but can always be better served. There's also an Egyptian-themed movie coming out in February, Gods of Egypt. Should be a nice little genre tie-in even though I expect the movie to suck beyond belief. 



Bbates024 said:


> I know a lot of authors do some mild cross-genre swapping, it keeps things interesting and the readers seem to love it sometimes. I would say one of the people that does it super well is Lindsay Buroker, who mixes Steampunk and Magic/fantasy very well in her Dragonblood series.


Yep. One of the tricks I picked up from one of my writing mentors, Dean Wesley Smith, was that it's key to be able to take several different elements and find a way to slam them together into something familiar but fresh. About 10 years ago I brainstormed a mind map of all the genres and things that interested me from a writing and reading standpoint, and I put each of those elements onto 3x5 cards (space opera, westerns, ancient Egypt, cats, diversity, etc.) and then when I need inspiration for story and series ideas, I pull those cards out and mix and match and figure out what combinations spark the ol' creativity lab.

For example, _Pistols and Pyramids_ is a combination of several of my mind map cards: western + ancient Egypt + fantasy + supernatural + diversity + equality.


----------



## JalexM

Just released my next book, a novella in my In A Universe Without Stars series today.
http://www.amazon.com/Chaos-starless-nights-Universe-Without-ebook/dp/B0149RQFAI/ref=la_B00VMSXGW8_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447789957&sr=1-2
I'm not going to promote it at all after today as i'm not 100% confident in it and I'm saving all my promoting for a new series i'm releasing in December(26th hopefully) and January.


----------



## Matthew Stott

VENTING: Now had 2 reviews complaining A Monstrous Place is, essentially, a kids book. Yeah, that's not something 'wrong' with the book. That's on purpose. I know, I know, ignore them, but it's kinda frustrating to see reviews like that. 'I didn't like it' is one thing, but complaining that a kids book is a kids book is just annoying. I wouldn't mind if it was a few among 30 reviews, but I only have a small amount so far!


----------



## Bbates024

Matthew Stott said:


> VENTING: Now had 2 reviews complaining A Monstrous Place is, essentially, a kids book. Yeah, that's not something 'wrong' with the book. That's on purpose. I know, I know, ignore them, but it's kinda frustrating to see reviews like that. 'I didn't like it' is one thing, but complaining that a kids book is a kids book is just annoying. I wouldn't mind if it was a few among 30 reviews, but I only have a small amount so far!


I know what you mean I have received a few three-star reviews a couple negative and one super positive. At the end of the one where the guy trashed me, he said "I'll still be getting book two though."

I just decided not to worry about it to much I finally have 10 and am over 4 stars so at least I can secure soem advertising.


----------



## Guest

Just popping in to say "hi."  I'm preparing for my launch, and that's where my focus is.  So not at Kboards much anymore. (Too much drama, anyway.)

My Facebook ad for my mailing list sign-ups is doing great.  Before I took Mark Dawson's course, it took me a year to get approximately 300 people on my list.  I removed approximately 200 of those people because they weren't true readers. (Got them through offering prizes and other methods that are NOT effective.) 

With Mark Dawson's suggestions, in a little over a week, I've replaced the 200 people I removed.   So now I have a mailing list comprised of people who are truly interested in what I write.  I'm getting approximately 18 to 20 sign-ups a day, which is great for me.  (There are plenty of authors who receive more than that, but I'm not focusing on them - I'm focusing on me.)

Life is good.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Welcome back, Jolie! Do tell how you're getting the folks to sign up! Are you giving away a book to new list subscribers?


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> Welcome back, Jolie! Do tell how you're getting the folks to sign up! Are you giving away a book to new list subscribers?


Hey Jim! Yeah, my focus today is on vampires, and I wrote a vampire story exclusively for my mailing list subscribers. (It's not at Amazon or anywhere.) So I made sure to offer something that has to do with what I will be publishing at Amazon. (No more zombies.)


----------



## Adair Hart

Jolie du Pre said:


> Hey Jim! Yeah, my focus today is on vampires, and I wrote a vampire story exclusively for my mailing list subscribers. (It's not at Amazon or anywhere.) So I made sure to offer something that has to do with what I will be publishing at Amazon. (No more zombies.)


Awesome Jolie! It's good to see you around  I'm going down the same path but my exclusive won't be ready until February. That course is awesome. It's great to see it's working for you!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Got notification from Amazon that my pre-order for Episode 2 is now delivering, so I posted the pre-order for episode 3. Also running a Select free day on episode 1 this Friday, so we'll see how that goes. Finalizing episode 3, editing episode 4, finalizing the print layout templates, and getting some interior art finalized for the print version of episode 1. And today was my birthday. All in all a good day.

Hope everyone's having a good week!


----------



## Bbates024

I'm doing my first promo next week. So we will see how it goes. I also have a promo going from my Pen Name. I won't list those results here but hopefully this one is going to go awesome. I went down to .99 Monday-Thursday and am doing 1.99 Friday-Monday

11/23/15 Read Cheaply Fantasy 0.00

11/24/15 GenrePulse Fantasy 18.00

11/24/15 Awesomegang 0.00

11/25/15 eBookSoda Fantasy 27.00 This included being posted on their FB and Twitter.

11/25/15 Bargain Booksy Young Adult 25.00

11/25/15 ENT Fantasy 25.00


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> Got notification from Amazon that my pre-order for Episode 2 is now delivering, so I posted the pre-order for episode 3. Also running a Select free day on episode 1 this Friday, so we'll see how that goes. Finalizing episode 3, editing episode 4, finalizing the print layout templates, and getting some interior art finalized for the print version of episode 1. And today was my birthday. All in all a good day.
> 
> Hope everyone's having a good week!


Happy Birthday Jim! You're cranking em out! I checked my Kindle on PC but "Flight to the Fort" isn't there yet but my order shows it will be tomorrow. (Edit: I just got an email from Amazon while I was posting around that it's been delivered woot!)

Bbates, will follow your promo in Salvador's thread!

Matt, That sucks about the review. I noticed you didn't have anything in the "From the Author" section. I filled mine out after a review to let readers know that there would be some fantastical elements in my science fiction setting (akin to Marvel/Dr.Who cosmology) and in "The Awakening". I'm wondering if it would help if you put something there to further clarify what "A Monstrous Place" is about. If not, just ignore my ramblings 

Jalex, Congratulations on your second book!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Adair Hart said:


> Happy Birthday Jim! You're cranking em out! I checked my Kindle on PC but "Flight to the Fort" isn't there yet but my order shows it will be tomorrow.


My preorder just popped up on my Kindle so I'm off to read to make sure it's the right version. Thanks for ordering a copy!


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> My preorder just popped up on my Kindle so I'm off to read to make sure it's the right version. Thanks for ordering a copy!


Hah! I edited my original post with an edit tag, but I just got it


----------



## Bbates024

Jim Johnson said:


> My preorder just popped up on my Kindle so I'm off to read to make sure it's the right version. Thanks for ordering a copy!


Let's just say that I did that once with a book and it was a mad scramble to make sure it was fixed.

I'll never do that again.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Bbates024 said:


> Let's just say that I did that once with a book and it was a mad scramble to make sure it was fixed.
> 
> I'll never do that again.


Happily, it looks like the right version was pushed out to pre-order customers. *whew*


----------



## Eva Chase

Hi all! I've been out of the loop here for a bit because busy with offline stuff. Currently line editing my book 2.

Good news: I just had my first paperback sale! Woohoo! That only took... over a month. Has anyone else had luck with their print versions?

Not-so-good news: Amazon removed some of my ebook categories, and stuck my book in one it doesn't belong in, and is being cagey about fixing the situation. (I emailed them on Tuesday and then again on Thursday when I noticed the new, wrong category that had just popped up, and all I'm getting is, "We're looking into it."  ) Book 2 is missing a few categories too, but I figured there isn't any point in bugging them about that until after I have the final version uploaded.


----------



## ScottCarlson

How do I offer my book for free? I only see .99 option.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eva Chase said:


> Good news: I just had my first paperback sale! Woohoo! That only took... over a month. Has anyone else had luck with their print versions?


I've actually sold about 18 paperback copies since Oct 7th, but I know most of those were family and friends. I kept the price as low as I could, too. So I'm not making anything of 'em!


----------



## Matthew Stott

ScottCarlson said:


> How do I offer my book for free? I only see .99 option.


Apart from offering 'free days' as a promo as part of Kindle Unlimited, the only way is to have it available and free on another retailer. You then notify Amazon that it's free elsewhere and they'll match it.


----------



## Maarika

Matthew Stott said:


> I've actually sold about 18 paperback copies since Oct 7th, but I know most of those were family and friends. I kept the price as low as I could, too. So I'm not making anything of 'em!


Just wondering, is there a reason why you keep the price so low that you're not making anything?


----------



## ScottCarlson

Matthew Stott said:


> Apart from offering 'free days' as a promo as part of Kindle Unlimited, the only way is to have it available and free on another retailer. You then notify Amazon that it's free elsewhere and they'll match it.


Found the promo. Thanks  I set it up to go free tomorrow.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Maarika said:


> Just wondering, is there a reason why you keep the price so low that you're not making anything?


Oh, for the first year at the very least I'm not really interested in making money specifically (though i won't say no...!). I just want to try and build an audience and get my things read by as many people as possible, so that later I'll hopefully have more people interested in what I put out.

I am making some money, of course, but I've priced at a level where it's only a little bit each sale.


----------



## romanticauthor

I've learned to somehow, someway, manage to budget ongoing promotions for my books or otherwise sales will drop. I recently had an ongoing promo at Fire and Ice Book Promos and I've seen a major drop in sales since my promotion ended. One day ads are great, especially if you can get a Bookbub, but for me and my books I seem to have better results with promotions that last at least a week or two preferably longer.


----------



## Bbates024

ScottCarlson said:


> How do I offer my book for free? I only see .99 option.


Outside of the promo the only way to do it is to list it on another site for free and then hope Amazon price matches it. Perma-free is still a thing, I'll probably look into it after I get to book four in my series.


----------



## Lucey Phillips

romanticauthor said:


> I've learned to somehow, someway, manage to budget ongoing promotions for my books or otherwise sales will drop. I recently had an ongoing promo at Fire and Ice Book Promos and I've seen a major drop in sales since my promotion ended. One day ads are great, especially if you can get a Bookbub, but for me and my books I seem to have better results with promotions that last at least a week or two preferably longer.


I think this is going to be my strategy too--until I have a backlist and grow a base of readers. Then some day maybe I'll have a mailing list and can back off the promotions a little.


----------



## blancheking

Just launched my novel The Almshouse as well. Fingers crossed!


----------



## Azalea

Thanks for the in-depth reply, Jim! Very interesting. I'll be watching closely. But not in a stalkery way. 



Jim Johnson said:


> Bottom line is I had laid out a business plan a couple years ago and now I'm working that plan, tweaking as I go.


Haha, same here, and I love it.


----------



## Guest

Jolie! It's good to see you on here again. Glad you're being super productive and I am blown away by the success of your newsletter sign up on FB. Your ad shows up on my feed every day and I keep thinking "I bet she is getting SO many sign ups!" I need to follow suit. 

RomanticAuthor, I feel you. I haven't promo'd in a month and a half and it shows. My rankings are terrible at the moment.

I've been in my writing cave all week. Averaging about 4-5k a day, although yesterday I only did 1200. I am getting a very steamy romance serial ready for December where I will publish 3 parts within a couple weeks of one another. My Kindle Scout campaign is winding down, I have about 4 days left. I would love to get picked but a ton of great books got rejected this week so I am not feeling great about my chances. But we'll see. Either way, it's getting published in December as well. December will be a HUGE month for me. 5 titles across 2 names. I want 2016 to be my year! And your year too, newbies!

This thread has really turned into something special. The class of 2015 has really been an awesome one to be a part of.


----------



## dbrbarton

First and foremost, marketing and promotions should begin before you even publish.  If you wait until after you publish, you waste precious time as Amazon only gives you 30 days to hit the Hot New Releases which is when they start helping you market your book.

Get a "street team" of people you can give advanced reader copies to so you can gather reviews when your book is published.  Get as many reviews as you can, but concentrate more on the actual promotion.  

All of your books should be tied together and can also be used to grow your mailing list.  For instance, give away your first book with a link inside your subsequent books in exchange for their email address.  Having a growing email list of fans is golden which helps eliminate the need for a lot of other promotions.


----------



## romanticauthor

BelleAC said:


> Jolie! It's good to see you on here again. Glad you're being super productive and I am blown away by the success of your newsletter sign up on FB. Your ad shows up on my feed every day and I keep thinking "I bet she is getting SO many sign ups!" I need to follow suit.
> 
> RomanticAuthor, I feel you. I haven't promo'd in a month and a half and it shows. My rankings are terrible at the moment.
> 
> I've been in my writing cave all week. Averaging about 4-5k a day, although yesterday I only did 1200. I am getting a very steamy romance serial ready for December where I will publish 3 parts within a couple weeks of one another. My Kindle Scout campaign is winding down, I have about 4 days left. I would love to get picked but a ton of great books got rejected this week so I am not feeling great about my chances. But we'll see. Either way, it's getting published in December as well. December will be a HUGE month for me. 5 titles across 2 names. I want 2016 to be my year! And your year too, newbies!
> 
> This thread has really turned into something special. The class of 2015 has really been an awesome one to be a part of.


That's awesome that you're doing so much writing! I miss those days, though I'm not sure I wrote quite that much! I'd be happy to hit just half that a day now, but I think I'm suffering from a massive case of burnout. I just hope I can rebound pretty soon.


----------



## Guest

JalexM said:


> Just released my next book, a novella in my In A Universe Without Stars series today.
> http://www.amazon.com/Chaos-starless-nights-Universe-Without-ebook/dp/B0149RQFAI/ref=la_B00VMSXGW8_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447789957&sr=1-2
> I'm not going to promote it at all after today as i'm not 100% confident in it and I'm saving all my promoting for a new series i'm releasing in December(26th hopefully) and January.


Love your covers!


----------



## Guest

ScottCarlson said:


> How do I offer my book for free? I only see .99 option.


Your book is in Select. Therefore, you can't offer it for free until the term is up. After the term is up, you'll need to offer your book for free at the other major retailers, such as Apple and BN. Then go to KDP - click Help - click Contact Us (at the bottom/right of the Help page)- click Publishing - click Pricing Your Book - then explain to them that you want your book permafree and include the links to your book at the other retailers that show that your book is free.

Hope that helps.


----------



## Guest

ScottCarlson said:


> Found the promo. Thanks  I set it up to go free tomorrow.


Oh, okay. So you just want it free as part of the Select free days they offer. Glad you found it.


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> I've been in my writing cave all week. Averaging about 4-5k a day, although yesterday I only did 1200. I am getting a very steamy romance serial ready for December where I will publish 3 parts within a couple weeks of one another. My Kindle Scout campaign is winding down, I have about 4 days left. I would love to get picked but a ton of great books got rejected this week so I am not feeling great about my chances. But we'll see. Either way, it's getting published in December as well. December will be a HUGE month for me. 5 titles across 2 names. I want 2016 to be my year! And your year too, newbies!


I love your productivity. Yes, 2016 will be our year! Let's do this!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Jolie du Pre said:


> I love your productivity. Yes, 2016 will be our year! Let's do this!


2016 will be the year the newbies will take over .... mwahaha.


----------



## ScottCarlson

Over the weekend I got #1 in my category for free downloads and #9 for free downloads in all relationship categories. I feel like I just won a football game


----------



## Jim Johnson

Lukeofkondor said:


> 2016 will be the year the newbies will take over .... mwahaha.


And then there will be new newbies we can bend to our will inform and encourage.


----------



## Guest

Jim Johnson said:


> And then there will be new newbies we can bend to our will inform and encourage.


LOL!


----------



## ScottCarlson

Jim Johnson said:


> And then there will be new newbies we can bend to our will inform and encourage.


Yes


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Jim Johnson said:


> And then there will be new newbies we can bend to our will inform and encourage.


haha yes.


----------



## Bbates024

I thought I would share my recent promotion experience here as well I hope it helps someone.

Ascendancy The Arena

11/23/15 Read Cheaply Fantasy 0.00 and my mailing list about 1400 people mostly obtained from doing the free kindle giveaway. Probably more like 35 people organically.

*Totals 50 sales at .99 and 7762 page reads Rank starting maybe around 3k finished at 1660 went from in the fifties to 30 in Swords and Sorcery and from 50 to 38 in coming of age.*

Perspective wise yesterday I had 24 sales at 2.99 and 6654 page reads. Average for the month is probably closer to 15-17 sales and 6k page reads a day.

I also made the first book in my spinoff series free today and am not doing any advertising except in the back of my .99 book and on my mailing list. People downloaded 81 copies so far and it hit #9 in the free store for historical fiction.

I have the first book in a romance free this week under my pen name and I can say book butterfly is rocking that one. 355 free units moved and it had zero sales or reviews going in. 

11/24/15 GenrePulse Fantasy 18.00 (31 Clicks) so far

11/24/15 Awesomegang 0.00 Didn't run, maybe I messed up, could have sworn the confirmed. Never had an issue before so I'm going with I missed something there.

*Starting Rank today 11/24/15, 1575 overall, 28 in Swords and Sorcery. 35 in Coming of Age (Woke up to 4 sales and 2592 page reads).*
*End of Day 1781, 35 in S&S, 36 in Coming of Age, 46 sales and 6549 page reads.*
Pen name is still going strong top ten in Science Fiction Romance (free)(trying not to out myself for the pen name) and my other free book is #8 in historical fiction (free).

11/25/15 eBookSoda Fantasy 27.00 This included being posted on their FB and Twitter.

11/25/15 Bargain Booksy Young Adult 25.00

11/25/15 ENT Fantasy 25.00

Also doing an email blast to those that didn't open my first email.

*Starting Rank today 11/25/15, 1615 overall, 32 in Swords and Sorcery. 38 in Coming of Age (Woke up to 8 sales and 2946 page reads).*
* Daily Total 1472 28 in S&S, 33 in COA, 67 sales and 6806 page reads*
As a side effect of making book one in the spin-off series free, I have had more sales in the second book of that series it is now in the top 100 in Dark Fantasy and Historical fantasy and sitting around 10k overall.
The pen name is hanging on to a top ten in Science fiction Romance (free), and my free fantasy book is number 12 in historical fiction with no advertising outside of the mailing list.
For some reason I had one hundred books sold in my head for this day I ended up with 73 sales and 97 free across all my titles, It was my best day pure volume wise since I started, so I count it as a win.

Today 11-26-15, I woke up to a very pleasant surprise in my rankings.

*Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#23 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery
#24 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery
#25 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Coming of Age*

Thanksgiving numbers No Advertisements
*Rank 1521 30 in S&S 33 in COA 36 sales and 4233 page reads.*
*My free spin-off book is 14 in Historical Fiction and 44 in Dark Fantasy, and my SyFy Romance is still in the top 10 of the free store.*

*Black Friday Arena Price Increased from .99 to 1.99
30 sales and 4708 page reads Rank 1842, 37 in COA and 39 in S&S*
I finished in the top ten for SYFY Romance for my Pen Name and In the top twelve for my spin-off. (Subcategories, Highest in the free store total was 300). I also had two days in a row of 6 sales on the second book in my spin off at 2.99

Saturday Arena is still 1.99 all of my free books are done with their promos
6 sales and 2510 pages reads so far.

That should wrap it up.

On my big day I had hoped to move closer to a hundred books, but all in, all I am happy with my first .99 promotion I moved over 200 books. Since the name of the game is bringing in new readers right now, I would call that a success.

When the second book comes out I'll do my first ever free promotion on Arena hopefully I can score a bookbub for that if not I'll be doing the same thing I did here but with more sites. I guess we will see what the rest of the weekend brings in at 1.99 for Arena and then how that effects sales when it goes back to 2.99 on Monday.

Penname got a chance to get off the ground, the spinoff brought in new readers and over 200 books went out at .99 followed by 30 at 1.99. I really couldn't have asked for much more. I hope the numbers I have shown in some way help someone else that is trying to line up so advertising.


----------



## Matthew Stott

My second full book is released on Tuesday...! Exciting. 

I've also more or less planned out what I'd like to release over the next year. A third Between book (in Feb), two-to-three novelettes, a collection of the 3 Between books, a collection of the novelettes, and 2-to-3 books in my new full length novel series. We'll see how much of that actually makes it out in the time frame...!My main aim is to get the novelettes and Between books out, and write drafts of the novel series. I think I'll have at least first drafts of all three done before I release one so I can put them all out fast. That obviously means I can't nail down for sure when I release, as it very much depends on me getting the work on all three done. i do have a first draft of the first one complete, and a date in March booked in with my editor to hit for it.


----------



## Bbates024

Matthew Stott said:


> My second full book is released on Tuesday...! Exciting.
> 
> I've also more or less planned out what I'd like to release over the next year. A third Between book (in Feb), two-to-three novelettes, a collection of the 3 Between books, a collection of the novelettes, and 2-to-3 books in my new full-length novel series. We'll see how much of that actually makes it out in the time frame...!My main aim is to get the novelettes and Between books out, and write drafts of the novel series. I think I'll have at least first drafts of all three done before I release one so I can put them all out fast. That obviously means I can't nail down for sure when I release, as it very much depends on me getting the work on all three done. i do have a first draft of the first one complete, and a date in March booked in with my editor to hit for it.


Very nice. My plan for next year is to release eight full-length books. I'm hoping I can buckle down and get it done, but I think 6 might be more realistic. 2 per quarter might be just out of reach for now. If I can find a way to 8 that would just be amazing. I guess we will find out I'm wrapping up a pen name project now and it's taken me a little longer then I thought kind of delaying what I need to do for my brand. I just gotta buckle down and slam it out so I can get back to my books.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Bbates024 said:


> Very nice. My plan for next year is to release eight full-length books.


Woah, 8! No way I could do that! Good luck.


----------



## Ian Jaymes

It's really great to watch people progress here.  As for my progression, I got my first return yesterday... One more feather in the cap!


----------



## Guest

@BBates I am floored by your successes this week!!! What great ranks! Absolutely amazing!



Ian Jaymes said:


> It's really great to watch people progress here. As for my progression, I got my first return yesterday... One more feather in the cap!


I get a few a month. It happens to us all. I think a lot of the times it's KU people who buy when they meant to borrow. At least I tell myself that.


----------



## Guest

Hey, N00bs! I haven't been around here much because I've been working my ass off. Putting in the words and the time while trying to pay attention to my kids. It ain't easy.

And since 2015 is coming to a close and a new class of newbies will be starting out in 2016, I thought I would remind everyone that what it all comes down to is the words. You've gotta get them in. We focus on a lot of other things (as we should!) when it comes to publishing but nothing happens without the content.

I think we'd all agree it's so much harder than we ever knew when we were on the other side just THINKING about doing this. But it's also so much better to be doing it and not just dreaming about it.

So get the butt in the chair. Write! This can be our year, friends.


----------



## writerbee

Bbates, thank you so much for posting your promo stats! It's really informative and helpful to see actual numbers. :-D


----------



## Jim Johnson

BelleAC said:


> @BBates I am floored by your successes this week!!! What great ranks! Absolutely amazing!
> 
> I get a few a month. It happens to us all. I think a lot of the times it's KU people who buy when they meant to borrow. At least I tell myself that.


Pretty sure that's what happened to me. I ran a free promo a couple weeks ago and there were a bunch of sales right after it and then a handful of returns beyond that. No biggie. Returns happen in this business.


----------



## Bbates024

Ian Jaymes said:


> It's really great to watch people progress here. As for my progression, I got my first return yesterday... One more feather in the cap!


I think the returns come more frequently, the more books you sell. It just seems to happen some people return a book because they didn't want to pay for it, some do it because they dn' like it, and some hit the wrong button for KU. I think unless you are seeing huge return numbers like 10% or more you are probably ok. If you're getting those kind of numbers, the reviews will probably reflect that as well.

I was really excited to the sales I had they continued through yesterday although today has been a little lighter, but way more page reads. KU has really been the clincher for me as a new author, the page reads helps so much with the rankings, sometimes sting a bit with the reviews, but the trade-off is totally worth it. Anything that helps get your name out there and you get paid for it is just too much, good marketing to pass up. This month I am closing in on 200k page reads. If all of those people read the book all the way through that is an extra 738 people that I reached, that I might not have otherwise, not sure if I would have had the reach or the exposure if I went wide.

The best advice I have gotten so far is to just keep writing, keep getting good books out there and more people will find you. I'm just hoping to make it to the point where I can consider myself a midlist author if I can make enough to stay at home and write it we would be the most amazing thing in the world.


----------



## Ian Jaymes

Thanks all for the kind words- I'm not sweating the return at all. It's inevitable. Just my first, is all.  And yes- back to writing!  Got to get episode 3 of my serial up in time for Christmas...


----------



## blancheking

I'll throw my hat in too. Just published my first long novel.

A question for established authors: is it still fair game to call three books a series if they dont have the same protagonist or even protagonists related to each other?


----------



## Matthew Stott

It's what I'm doing for a couple of my series. Same fantasy or horror 'world' but different characters/story. With some overlap. 


ALSO: This thread seems to have deleted the last few posts.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Oh, I released my new book a few days back! The red one in my sig. It's a bit darker than Monstrous, it'll be interesting to see how it goes down.
Now finishing up the third one, and then I can get on with my more 'grown up' series. A series I have high hopes for, traction-wise.


----------



## Guest

blancheking said:


> I'll throw my hat in too. Just published my first long novel.
> 
> A question for established authors: is it still fair game to call three books a series if they dont have the same protagonist or even protagonists related to each other?


Do they share a common setting or theme? If so, yes, you can still call it a series. I've seen quiet a few series that are just related by setting or around a central theme.


----------



## lilywhite

Matthew Stott said:


> i do have a first draft of the first one complete, and a date in March booked in with my editor to hit for it.


And she's quite looking forward to it.


----------



## Bbates024

Anma Natsu said:


> Do they share a common setting or theme? If so, yes, you can still call it a series. I've seen quiet a few series that are just related by setting or around a central theme.


I'd agree the biggest one I can think of is Discworld


----------



## Matthew Stott

lilywhite said:


> And she's quite looking forward to it.


Heh! Oh, I would lower any and all expectations. I felt like i sorta knew what I was doing with the shorter kids ones, this is a whole new thing and it feels like a disaster at the moment...! Well, I've got a few months to try and un-disaster it a little...!


----------



## lilywhite

Matthew Stott said:


> Heh! Oh, I would lower any and all expectations. I felt like i sorta knew what I was doing with the shorter kids ones, this is a whole new thing and it feels like a disaster at the moment...! Well, I've got a few months to try and un-disaster it a little...!


Sixty-Six was pretty solid. You've got this.


----------



## Matthew Stott

lilywhite said:


> Sixty-Six was pretty solid. You've got this.


Thanks! Heh, we'll see... I've got time to try and wrangle all the characters into something semi-coherent.  Got to try and push yourself I suppose otherwise you won't get better. (Can you tell I like to expect the worst so the actual outcome will surprise me yet..? heh!)


----------



## blancheking

I published my first novel on November 20th of this year. So far, I've done two very useful promotions: BKnights ($5) and Robin Reads ($15). I have ENT coming on the 23rd, so I'm excited to see what will happen.

My book is The Almshouse, a 1930's ghost story combined with a murder mystery. (Take 2 children, 2 fires, a haunted house, the cemetery down the street, the richest family in the tri-county area, and half-cremated body in a bag; shake and you get my story.) Without promotions, I sell 3-7 copies a day, averaging around 5. With the promotions, they do a little better.

For BKnights, I ran it on Black Friday and got 31 sales. I ended up ranking in the 6,000's and getting genre ranks of #6, #9, and #13 at the best.
For Robin Reads, I ran it yesterday and got 63 sales. I ended up ranking in the 3,000's and getting genre ranks at #4, #6, and #9 at its best.

Leading the genres I'm in are Dean Kootz and our own Darcy Coats from kboards. (I am a fan of both  )

My current rankings have slipped a bit: (only 5 sales so far today)

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,165 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#7 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Supernatural > Ghosts
#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Ghosts & Haunted Houses
#13 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Suspense > Ghosts


----------



## Guest

Just popping in to say "hi."  I've decided to go wide.  It's a big step, but it's what I need to do to reach my long term goals.  

Hope everyone is enjoying their December.  I'm extremely busy, but I'm surviving.


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Just popping in to say "hi." I've decided to go wide. It's a big step, but it's what I need to do to reach my long term goals.
> 
> Hope everyone is enjoying their December. I'm extremely busy, but I'm surviving.


Hey, Jolie! That is a big step! But it sounds like you have a bigger plan and I know you will be successful. It's good to hear from you! I've been in my writing cave for a month and haven't been around as much.


----------



## Bbates024

Jolie du Pre said:


> Just popping in to say "hi." I've decided to go wide. It's a big step, but it's what I need to do to reach my long term goals.
> 
> Hope everyone is enjoying their December. I'm extremely busy, but I'm surviving.


Good luck!

I feel like busy is a way of life for a writer, sure I have some down time some days, but I look at the crazy schedule I made to try and get 8 books out next year and I think seriously what were you thinking. I still think I can do it small steps to large success. Kinda sounded like an infomercial didn't it. (Or What About Bob)


----------



## AnitaLouise

Does anyone have any ideas for ways to promote your books and get some traction? You can only go so far with friends and family, and I'm not in a position to spend money on advertising.


----------



## Bbates024

The only thing I have heard of doing without spending money is joining facebook groups. I haven't done that myself so I can't help you there. Maybe some other folks have some ideas.

One thing I have realized is it takes money to make money, unless you get lucky or are already stablished. I set aside a minimum of 10% of my sales to put into advertising. Depending on what next year's income looks like I might do more.


----------



## Guest

AnitaLouise said:


> Does anyone have any ideas for ways to promote your books and get some traction? You can only go so far with friends and family, and I'm not in a position to spend money on advertising.


Fellow KBoarder C. Gockel has a list of free and nearly free promo sites here and Self Publishing Review has a list of promo sites including some that are free or low cost


----------



## Adair Hart

Anma Natsu said:


> Fellow KBoarder C. Gockel has a list of free and nearly free promo sites here and Self Publishing Review has a list of promo sites including some that are free or low cost


I had the google docs one, but not that other one, Thanks Anma Natsu!

BlancheKing - Congratulations on your first novel. It's a great feeling.

Jolie - Let us know how it goes! I would be interested in following your journey.

Bbates - I went to respond to one of your posts the other day about Assasins's Creed I think it was, and it looked like those posts got wiped. Kbbooooards! *shakes fist*

Matthew - Congratulations on your book release! Your a machine man. Seems like everytime I check kboards you have something new out or a new site 

I released my second book today with little promotion. I am going to use the Salvador Launch Strategy of doing the book 1 free, book 2 KCD with heavy promotion for a week in January after the 30 day cliff. I did get to send my first newsletter to all 10 people on my list  Hopefully my exclusive prequel novella and facebook ads will rectify mailing list numbers next year!

Audiobook for my first book is now live as well, and linked to my ebook. I haven't got my promo codes yet, and need to do some research on promotion for it. So much to do, so little time!


----------



## spellscribe

I feel bad for lurking in this thread and never commenting.

I released a nonfiction in august but I'm gearing up for my first fiction release early next year. It's an urban fantasy and a first in series. 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Hey, Jolie! That is a big step! But it sounds like you have a bigger plan and I know you will be successful. It's good to hear from you! I've been in my writing cave for a month and haven't been around as much.


Alison, you're kicking butt. Keep it up! Congrats on your success!


----------



## Guest

Home girl is back in Kindle Select.  Ha Ha!  (However, first book is permafree.)  More power to those who go wide, but it ain't for me, and I'll NEVER agonize about it again.


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> Alison, you're kicking butt. Keep it up! Congrats on your success!


Thanks, Jolie! I am so floored by how NEED is doing. And I appreciate your congrats so much.

Just published book two, CRAVE. Hoping it's out of review by morning. Warning to my fellow newbies looking to publish romance: The review times tend to be longer. So just be prepared!

I love seeing all the success happening in this group!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> Home girl is back in Kindle Select. Ha Ha! (However, first book is permafree.) More power to those who go wide, but it ain't for me, and I'll NEVER agonize about it again.


I move on to a new series next year, at which point I think I might test the waters and go wide with the Between series I have out (the coloured books in my sig). I think I have to at least try to go wide with one series and see how that goes.


----------



## Psychorase

Hey!

I'm serializing a novel on Wattpad to build up a fanbase for a different one I'm currently writing that I'll self-publish. So far, nothing's gone horribly wrong.


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Squee! Just got my 10th review for my debut novel (The Deep Link). I'm officially in the 2 digits range now!

Of course this means squat compared to most of you guys, but it means a lot to me.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Veronica Sicoe said:


> Squee! Just got my 10th review for my debut novel (The Deep Link). I'm officially in the 2 digits range now!
> 
> Of course this means squat compared to most of you guys, but it means a lot to me.


I have just 2 reviews on my first book, so you're kicking my butt!


----------



## Mary Papas

My new short story collection ''Walking in the Dark'' by Mary Papas was released a couple of days ago on Amazon. You can go to my signature, and click on it,  it is the last cover on the right. 
What happens when reality plays games with you? What happens  when you think you know someone only to find out you don't? What happens when you have to deal with situations you didn't even dream of? 
If you want to know the answers to the above questions, you will have to read the book!


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Thanks, Jolie! I am so floored by how NEED is doing. And I appreciate your congrats so much.


Alison, you didn't give up before, and NOW you're there! So take it and run with it!   

WINNERS NEVER QUIT AND QUITTERS NEVER WIN.

~~~

Good luck to everyone, and have a great rest of December!


----------



## Guest

Veronica Sicoe said:


> Squee! Just got my 10th review for my debut novel (The Deep Link). I'm officially in the 2 digits range now!
> 
> Of course this means squat compared to most of you guys, but it means a lot to me.


That's so awesome! And it doesn't mean squat. Being that it's getting harder and harder to get reviews, this is a great feat!


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

BelleAC said:


> That's so awesome! And it doesn't mean squat. Being that it's getting harder and harder to get reviews, this is a great feat!


Thanks! It _is_ hard, and that really makes me appreciate every single review.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ooh, a podcast somehow found my novelette, 'Sixty-Six'', and did a pretty long review of it. The fact I'm sharing this might be a clue to the fact they don't completely trash it....! 

A review anywhere is brilliant, but hearing two people say nice things about my work to each other is new, strange, and pretty darn awesome.

It's about 40mins in if anyone is curious.

http://www.bmoviesandebooks.com/podcasts/b-movies-and-e-books-episode-36-bigfoots-and-fancy-ghosts/


----------



## Matthew Stott

Veronica Sicoe said:


> Thanks! It _is_ hard, and that really makes me appreciate every single review.


Well done on hitting double figures! It is tricky, I even hit my list up once to see if I could get a few extra, but nothing doing. Monstrous has managed 13 now, which I'm surprised and happy about, even if a few of them are negative. I've got at least one review from one star all the way up to five stars on it now, heh!


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Matthew Stott said:


> Well done on hitting double figures! It is tricky, I even hit my list up once to see if I could get a few extra, but nothing doing. Monstrous has managed 13 now, which I'm surprised and happy about, even if a few of them are negative. I've got at least one review from one star all the way up to five stars on it now, heh!


That's great, Matthew! When I buy books, I never read 5* reviews. I'll always read some 4* and definitely at least one of the 1* reviews. If those don't complain about something that would bother *me*, even if they complain about things, and I like the rest of the "package," I'll definitely buy the book.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Veronica Sicoe said:


> That's great, Matthew! When I buy books, I never read 5* reviews. I'll always read some 4* and definitely at least one of the 1* reviews. If those don't complain about something that would bother *me*, even if they complain about things, and I like the rest of the "package," I'll definitely buy the book.


Ta! Most of the more negative ones are complaining that a kids book is a kids book, which is annoying, but at least they're not really a dig at the book itself.


----------



## Joe M

Matthew Stott said:


> Ooh, a podcast somehow found my novelette, 'Sixty-Six'', and did a pretty long review of it. The fact I'm sharing this might be a clue to the fact they don't completely trash it....!
> 
> A review anywhere is brilliant, but hearing two people say nice things about my work to each other is new, strange, and pretty darn awesome.
> 
> It's about 40mins in if anyone is curious.
> 
> http://www.bmoviesandebooks.com/podcasts/b-movies-and-e-books-episode-36-bigfoots-and-fancy-ghosts/


Thats really cool man. Did they send you a note saying that they reviewed it?


----------



## Matthew Stott

Joe M said:


> Thats really cool man. Did they send you a note saying that they reviewed it?


Thanks! My Twitter handle was included when they tweeted the link to their followers, so I got a notification and checked it out.


----------



## AnitaLouise

crcowden said:


> You're off to a nice start, better than many. Don't sweat the drop in sale this month. Keep writing, keep writing. Nice covers, nice reviews. Save the cash when it comes and keep writing.


I'm grateful for any and all sales at any time. An attitude of gratitude goes a long way.


----------



## AnitaLouise

Matthew Stott said:


> Ooh, a podcast somehow found my novelette, 'Sixty-Six'', and did a pretty long review of it. The fact I'm sharing this might be a clue to the fact they don't completely trash it....!
> 
> A review anywhere is brilliant, but hearing two people say nice things about my work to each other is new, strange, and pretty darn awesome.
> 
> It's about 40mins in if anyone is curious.
> 
> http://www.bmoviesandebooks.com/podcasts/b-movies-and-e-books-episode-36-bigfoots-and-fancy-ghosts/


Congrats on the positite press!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Heh; I had a very, very daft one star review on A Monstrous Place... and it seems like Amazon has deleted it. Which is nice.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Had a happy moment last night--finished the edits to P&P3 and uploaded it to Amazon ahead of the pre-order deadline. I had set a goal early in the year to start publishing a novella a month starting in October, and I've made all of my deadlines. Episode 3 comes out on Christmas Day, and I'll continue the monthly releases into 2016.

Hope everyone is having a great month so far with hitting your goals!


----------



## Taitrina

Hello all /waves. I just squeaked in to join the 'Class of 2015' club, published on December 4th and I'm this crazy combination of excited and terrified.

I decided to go wide out of the gate, start as I mean to go on, as I've never liked my eggs all in one basket. However, I'm wondering now if that was a mistake. Visibility, or lack thereof, is the enemy right?   I was absolutely amazed when I had a sale on the 5th, and I had another one on the 11th taking my total to two. I'm thrilled that I've had any sales, especially as they are from strangers who must have just randomly found it.

Still starting out from nothing means the only way should be up, right? I have no subscribers to my mailing list, though that is likely my fault as I don't have a book magnet set up yet. I had a Bknights promo run yesterday and so far no sales. Whether that's because there weren't any, or because the dashboard hasn't updated yet I don't know. I set up a Goodreads giveaway but the mods haven't approved it yet.

May I just ask, from your own experiences do you think Select/KU would have been better to start with? Having had no sales through Kobo, or D2D, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to revert the decision to go wide. Plus it means I could (rather lazily) put off the headache with iBooks for a while, they just won't accept my ePub.

Cheers!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Taitrina said:


> Hello all /waves. I just squeaked in to join the 'Class of 2015' club, published on December 4th and I'm this crazy combination of excited and terrified.
> 
> I decided to go wide out of the gate, start as I mean to go on, as I've never liked my eggs all in one basket. However, I'm wondering now if that was a mistake. Visibility, or lack thereof, is the enemy right?  I was absolutely amazed when I had a sale on the 5th, and I had another one on the 11th taking my total to two. I'm thrilled that I've had any sales, especially as they are from strangers who must have just randomly found it.
> 
> Still starting out from nothing means the only way should be up, right? I have no subscribers to my mailing list, though that is likely my fault as I don't have a book magnet set up yet. I had a Bknights promo run yesterday and so far no sales. Whether that's because there weren't any, or because the dashboard hasn't updated yet I don't know. I set up a Goodreads giveaway but the mods haven't approved it yet.
> 
> May I just ask, from your own experiences do you think Select/KU would have been better to start with? Having had no sales through Kobo, or D2D, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to revert the decision to go wide. Plus it means I could (rather lazily) put off the headache with iBooks for a while, they just won't accept my ePub.
> 
> Cheers!


First: well done!

Second: It is true that being in KU, if you get a sale or two, gives you a bit of extra visibility on Amazon. I think, at this early stage, any small amount of help you can get is good, so would prob advise launching through KU, for your first couple of books at least, before attempting to branch out. That's what I'm doing. Putting each book in KU once, maybe twice, before thinking about putting anything elsewhere. Start steady, try and take advantage of any boost KU might give you, then spread out.


----------



## Matthew Stott

OOH! From a Goodreads review of The Identical Boy: "I loved Coraline, which has a similar tone (in fact, I would argue that Coraline is somewhat tamer in the scares department)."

A scarier Neil Gaiman? I'LL TAKE THAT!


----------



## TheLemontree

Matthew Stott said:


> OOH! From a Goodreads review of The Identical Boy: "I loved Coraline, which has a similar tone (in fact, I would argue that Coraline is somewhat tamer in the scares department)."
> 
> A scarier Neil Gaiman? I'LL TAKE THAT!


Wow. Direct comparison to Gaiman! Woot!

Tweet that review.

Regarding the question of ku vs wide, I was getting about a sale per week plus maybe a full read through each month when in ku.

I went wide at the start of December and so far crickets. No sale on any platform through December.

I've fallen off the 90 day cliff which also won't be helping, but I think the ku exposure was making the difference between a sale or two and a big old zero.

I want to stay wide though, so I'm lining up some promos for January and am trying to knuckle down to book 2.

It was always my plan to not promote until I had the second book out, but I just can't stand watching a dead flat sales line any longer.

Thank goodness I've made some real life paperback sales this month (for actual cash money! ). I know they don't count for rankings, but they sure are a confidence boost.

Ive got BKnights booked for Dec 26, and will try and line up one or two others for that week too.

Sent from my GT-S7390 using Tapatalk


----------



## Adair Hart

Veronica - Congratulations on the double digits for reviews! I am at 7 now, with 3 of them coming recently from a netgalley stint with patchwork press coop. I didn't understand the review differences between Goodreads and Amazon I have seen mentioned in other threads, I do now  

Matthew - Congratulations on the podcast! I checked out parts of it, that guy seems to really like sixty-six! 

Jim - Awesome on book 3! I still have book 2 to read, but got caught up in all this wild holiday season stuff. Will pick it up by end of year. 

TaiTrina - Congratulations on your recent launch! I was where you were on September 6. I had just launched my first book, no subscribers, no presence of any type, and ran a bKnights/bargainbooksy on a full price book. I had initially wanted to go wide, but as matthew has stated, and via a lot of opinions here on Kboards, staying in KU when starting out as a new author is not a bad idea for visibility. Another cool thing is the 5 free days and Kindle countdown promotions you can use once every 90 days. I am loving the page reads so far  

For me, since my second book launched last week, I didn't see much traction. With a mailing list, now at 14 people, and no advertising, I guess that's to be expected. Although I plan on using all my free days and KCD days in January after the 30 day limitation, I went ahead and used a free day today on Book 1 with a Freebooksy and Bknights promotion. The idea was to get some eyes on the first book, and hope for conversion for book 2 and maybe get on to the hot new releases list. As of this posting, it's had 1097 downloads and hit #5 in the space opera science fiction top 100 free bestsellers, #46 in science fiction overall. I have had a full read through and sale today for book 2, so if the free downloads lead to more book 2 sales I'll be happy. Book 2 is about 500ish KENP, so a full read through is a decent chunk of change for me! I did get one new subscriber but no new reviews. That's quite okay, I hope to do much better in my big promo in January!

My Book 1 Audiobook launched last week and continues to chug along with 10 sales. I have an audiobook blast promo on Dec 22nd, and my narrator helping out with promotion over the holidays. It's a new experience, but it's been fun. It's been a busy month, but no time to rest! My reader magnet prequel novella is due for copyedit in about a month!


----------



## Guest

Really excited that so many of my fellow Newbies are doing so well! Meeting the goals they set and having fun doing it. I'm so proud to be one of you. What a year!

I hope 2016 brings us many sales and many lessons.


----------



## Adair Hart

BelleAC said:


> Really excited that so many of my fellow Newbies are doing so well! Meeting the goals they set and having fun doing it. I'm so proud to be one of you. What a year!
> 
> I hope 2016 brings us many sales and many lessons.


Congratulations again on getting accepted by Kindle publications. My post on it was swallowed by Kboards. 

Thank you for creating this thread! I have thoroughly enjoyed watching my fellow authors journeys!


----------



## Cxxxxxxx

Wow, I haven't checked in here in ages! *waves at newbies old and new*  

I've had my head down, working flat-out on my second and third books. The second one went on pre-order yesterday and is on track to be ready by the cut-off date, so I'm taking a tiny breather and treating myself to a few minutes in the Writer's Cafe. Yes, I live dangerously! 

Sales of my first book dried up completely about two weeks ago, so I'm running a little countdown promo to coincide with the pre-order of the second book. I'm committed to spending no money on promotion until I launch the third book in the spring (though my commitment is wavering), so I've only had three sites pick it up for their free promos. The first one goes on the 18th, so hopefully I'll get a little bump. I just notified my mailing list of the pre-order and have had 3 sales so far. I always get excited when people i don't know buy my book. I mean books. I HAVE WRITTEN TWO WHOLE BOOKS!


----------



## KDKinney

Taitrina said:


> Hello all /waves. I just squeaked in to join the 'Class of 2015' club, published on December 4th and I'm this crazy combination of excited and terrified.
> 
> I decided to go wide out of the gate, start as I mean to go on, as I've never liked my eggs all in one basket. However, I'm wondering now if that was a mistake. Visibility, or lack thereof, is the enemy right?  I was absolutely amazed when I had a sale on the 5th, and I had another one on the 11th taking my total to two. I'm thrilled that I've had any sales, especially as they are from strangers who must have just randomly found it.
> 
> Still starting out from nothing means the only way should be up, right? I have no subscribers to my mailing list, though that is likely my fault as I don't have a book magnet set up yet. I had a Bknights promo run yesterday and so far no sales. Whether that's because there weren't any, or because the dashboard hasn't updated yet I don't know. I set up a Goodreads giveaway but the mods haven't approved it yet.
> 
> May I just ask, from your own experiences do you think Select/KU would have been better to start with? Having had no sales through Kobo, or D2D, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to revert the decision to go wide. Plus it means I could (rather lazily) put off the headache with iBooks for a while, they just won't accept my ePub.
> 
> Cheers!


I would say totally take advantage of KU if you're just starting. It really does help. If you decide to take advantage of free days, that gets you KU visibility and you do make money from that. My KU reads soared for days after I ran free promos.

As far as being a 2015 publishing newbie- I finally got the 4th part to my serial up. The last part should have been 2 parts but I didn't want to buy another cover for it. When I head into "season 2" I need to try and come up with something myself. That had a rough month in September. When I released the third it picked up again. Getting the 4th done was a challenge. It went up last week. I'm ready to take a break from it and get some other stuff out.

I have a new cover for the YA Western. I absolutely love it! I think I finally nailed the blurb. It fell off the 90 day cliff. The new cover was finally visible on Amazon yesterday. Today the book's ranking improved a bunch. The cover is working? I plan on doing some free days after Christmas.

I'm set for a very busy January.


----------



## Norman Steele Taylor

Thanks for sharing your launch stories.

So far, the launch tips that I've noted for maximizing success are

1) Network, network, network 

2) Get advanced copies out to get a groundswell going on your launch 

3) Reach out to niche bloggers

4) Get a list going ASAP


----------



## Jon Stuen-Parker

Just checking if this works - because I'm NEW.


----------



## Taitrina

Thank you for the responses, Matthew, Adair and KDKinney. You just confirmed what I already suspected in my gut. Now, I'm just waiting for Nook to delist (everything else has) and then I'll enroll in Select and see what happens.

Can I just say all the covers in this thread are awesome, so evocative of genre and tone. Adair Sci-Fi is one of my favourite genres, so your covers definitely caught my eye. May I ask who did your covers? I don't know if that's ok to ask, so if it's not feel free not to answer. I did try and check out your website but it says "error connection reset", not sure if that's my internet connection.

Anyway, I really need to finish my current first draft, so I can crack on with revision of book two.


----------



## Adair Hart

Taitrina said:


> Thank you for the responses, Matthew, Adair and KDKinney. You just confirmed what I already suspected in my gut. Now, I'm just waiting for Nook to delist (everything else has) and then I'll enroll in Select and see what happens.
> 
> Can I just say all the covers in this thread are awesome, so evocative of genre and tone. Adair Sci-Fi is one of my favourite genres, so your covers definitely caught my eye. May I ask who did your covers? I don't know if that's ok to ask, so if it's not feel free not to answer. I did try and check out your website but it says "error connection reset", not sure if that's my internet connection.
> 
> Anyway, I really need to finish my current first draft, so I can crack on with revision of book two.


Thanks for the website notice! The site was okay, but my link was off. The http had an s on the end, it has been fixed. I recently updated my signature for book 2, so guessing I slipped that in by accident. My cover artist is Tom Edwards. You can see his thread here on Kboards:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,215921.msg3009507.html#msg3009507

He is great to work with and he recently did my prequel novella cover below:


----------



## Guest

Adair Hart said:


> Congratulations again on getting accepted by Kindle publications. My post on it was swallowed by Kboards.
> 
> Thank you for creating this thread! I have thoroughly enjoyed watching my fellow authors journeys!


Thanks, Adair! I appreciate it!


----------



## JalexM

Hello guys. I haven't been posting much since I've been working my day job more than I thought.(Even though I mostly lurk, which I haven't even had that much time to do )
But I got my book cover finally finished for my newish series. Which is now not getting released until February because i'm going to submit it to Kindle Scout. 








The cover might change as I finished book 2 and look at combining book 1 and 2 together, which I think makes a better story, but will lead to less sells 


Adair Hart said:


> For me, since my second book launched last week, I didn't see much traction. With a mailing list, now at 14 people, and no advertising, I guess that's to be expected. Although I plan on using all my free days and KCD days in January after the 30 day limitation, I went ahead and used a free day today on Book 1 with a Freebooksy and Bknights promotion. The idea was to get some eyes on the first book, and hope for conversion for book 2 and maybe get on to the hot new releases list. As of this posting, it's had 1097 downloads and hit #5 in the space opera science fiction top 100 free bestsellers, #46 in science fiction overall. I have had a full read through and sale today for book 2, so if the free downloads lead to more book 2 sales I'll be happy. Book 2 is about 500ish KENP, so a full read through is a decent chunk of change for me! I did get one new subscriber but no new reviews. That's quite okay, I hope to do much better in my big promo in January!


How many words are in book 2? My first book is only 406 pages and I have a KENP of 726. It took me a few formatting tries to get it that high. Try uploading it in mobi to see if it increases the count. Uploading in Mobi increased my page count.


----------



## Adair Hart

JalexM said:


> The cover might change as I finished book 2 and look at combining book 1 and 2 together, which I think makes a better story, but will lead to less sells How many words are in book 2? My first book is only 406 pages and I have a KENP of 726. It took me a few formatting tries to get it that high. Try uploading it in mobi to see if it increases the count. Uploading in Mobi increased my page count.


Hey Jalex, it has been a while. Awesome cover! Book 2 is 90k and both my books were uploaded as mobi files. I just rechecked and book 2 is 524 KENP and book 1 at 46k is 258 KENP. Any formatting tips you have would be appreciated


----------



## Dominique Mondesir

Hello fellow indies 

I have been lurking on kboards for some time, and I thought I would jump in the newbie thread and say hello. I published my first novella in September, and another one in November, which is part of a series. Sales are slowly creeping along, but that should improve after I release a 50k novel in the series next. 
I am just finishing up book four, with book five hopefully done the end of Jan. 
Anyway I just wanted to say hello. (I hate being the new kid.)


----------



## JalexM

Adair Hart said:


> Hey Jalex, it has been a while. Awesome cover! Book 2 is 90k and both my books were uploaded as mobi files. I just rechecked and book 2 is 524 KENP and book 1 at 46k is 258 KENP. Any formatting tips you have would be appreciated


Thanks!
Hmm, that sounds about right then or close to it. Mine were 112k words, so the page difference on amazon is probably because of font/font size. Mobi is the right way according to my anecdotal evidence!


----------



## blancheking

JalexM said:


> Thanks!
> Hmm, that sounds about right then or close to it. Mine were 112k words, so the page difference on amazon is probably because of font/font size. Mobi is the right way according to my anecdotal evidence!


that cover looks fantastic! props to the artist


----------



## Adair Hart

Dominique Mondesir said:


> Hello fellow indies
> 
> I have been lurking on kboards for some time, and I thought I would jump in the newbie thread and say hello. I published my first novella in September, and another one in November, which is part of a series. Sales are slowly creeping along, but that should improve after I release a 50k novel in the series next.
> I am just finishing up book four, with book five hopefully done the end of Jan.
> Anyway I just wanted to say hello. (I hate being the new kid.)


Welcome and hello, Dominique! You have been a busy bee.



JalexM said:


> Mobi is the right way according to my anecdotal evidence!


----------



## David Blake

Well I've just published my first proper book after having been spat out the Kindle Scout machine. 

Damn it's tough to get reviews out there! Neither family nor friends seem keen to help out, so I thought maybe we could start up an "Honest Review Exchange Program" on this thread, i.e. you send me your book and I'll give it an honest review, if you'll then accept mine in exchange for the same.

What d'ya think?


----------



## JalexM

blancheking said:


> that cover looks fantastic! props to the artist


Thanks!
It was by this guy
http://www.rockingbookcovers.com/

I forgot his username on this board though


----------



## keelybibeau

Count me in as a 2015 newb. I just popped off my first book last week and I have another set to release next month. I'm starting to think my kindle reports thingy is broken, though. It hasn't moved off of "0" yet  

Ah well, I'm not counting on it to pay any of my bills at least.


----------



## Adair Hart

keelybibeau said:


> Count me in as a 2015 newb. I just popped off my first book last week and I have another set to release next month. I'm starting to think my kindle reports thingy is broken, though. It hasn't moved off of "0" yet
> 
> Ah well, I'm not counting on it to pay any of my bills at least.


Welcome Keelybibeau to the class of 2015 and congratulations on your release! I have been using bookreport, which is pretty slick. I have noticed there is a lag, like it will show 4 sales, but the money is way off for half a day. Sometimes it will show money, but no sales or reads.  Probably just the system catching up I am guessing.



Richard Blackah said:


> Well I've just published my first proper book after having been spat out the Kindle Scout machine.
> 
> Damn it's tough to get reviews out there! Neither family nor friends seem keen to help out, so I thought maybe we could start up an "Honest Review Exchange Program" on this thread, i.e. you send me your book and I'll give it an honest review, if you'll then accept mine in exchange for the same.
> 
> What d'ya think?


Congratulations on your first book! I hear yas on the family and friends. Interestingly enough, most of them wanted a signed paperback or audio, which was fine, but I didn't have them up and out right away. I didn't ask them to help me with reviews, but do have something at the back of my books asking for anyone that reads it to leave one if they liked it and have the inclination. I think I'm going to reword that section and be more specific on where to leave reviews. After talking with some friends who liked it and I mentioned my review count, they weren't aware you could leave a review on the Amazon book page, which surprised me.

I have tried Netgalley, contacting people and blogs/sites, and hungryauthor, but out of all that, I only got three reviews, and two were goodread reviews (yowzas!), with one posting to amazon. I recently ran a one day free promo and got 1280 downloads, hitting #1 in space opera and #2 in adventure on the free charts briefly. It's been four days, and I have received four reviews. It would seem to me that sheer volume will increase your chance of getting a review, so curious to see how many I can get in my mid January promotion with four free days and a KCD. In that regard, free days appears to be my best review getter so far.

I don't recall where I saw it, but I thought Amazon didn't like authors reviewing other authors work for various reasons. For me personally, if I read someting and I like it, I leave a review. If there was something like you propose, I would suggest a separate thread, or even maybe a sub forum.


----------



## Dominique Mondesir

Thanks Adair. 

Yeah I have been just keeping my head down, and trying to pump out as many words as I can daily. Well look to promote my books next year.

Nice cover by the way.


----------



## Elliott Webber

Hello, fellow newbies. I launched less than a week ago, and it's been a rocky start, but not disasterously bad. Only one sale so far, but the reads have been trickling in every day. I've had some trouble getting my paperback linked to the ebook so the page count is stuck at 167 when in reality it should be around 300. I also decided to launch at a slightly higher price point (4.99) which combined with the low pagecount estimate has been a bit of a mess. I can't really expect people to pay 4.99 for 167 pages, when even at 300 it might be asking a lot for a new author, but it's something I'm trying out for the time being. I e-mailed Amazon yesterday and they manually linked the books, but so far it hasn't showed up, hopefully it will soon.

I've already written two more books, one is more of a novella really at 37k words, but the other one is sitting comfortably at around 70k, and I'm in the process of editing those right now. Hopefully I'll have the first one out mid-January and the other on in mid-February. In the meantime I'm also writing a fourth book, which should be ready for editing around February as well, so I might be able to get that one out in March. After that though, there's going to be a bit of a slump while I'm writing the next one. 

I've thought about spacing out the releases more, but honestly I don't see much point in the finished books sitting on the harddrive gathering dust when they could be sitting on the digital shelves gather dollar bills 

Anyway, launch rant over. Have a good one, folks.


----------



## JTriptych

JalexM said:


> Hello guys. I haven't been posting much since I've been working my day job more than I thought.(Even though I mostly lurk, which I haven't even had that much time to do )
> But I got my book cover finally finished for my newish series. Which is now not getting released until February because i'm going to submit it to Kindle Scout.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The cover might change as I finished book 2 and look at combining book 1 and 2 together, which I think makes a better story, but will lead to less sells How many words are in book 2? My first book is only 406 pages and I have a KENP of 726. It took me a few formatting tries to get it that high. Try uploading it in mobi to see if it increases the count. Uploading in Mobi increased my page count.


That. Is. An. Awesome. Cover. Dude!


----------



## spellscribe

So much good stuff in here  

Re. Reviews, has anyone tried offering their mailing list a free ARC of book 2 if they send you a screenshot of their review on book 1? Of course this relies on a decent mailing list  

I don't launch until end of Feb and currently have 4 subscribers including myself but I'm hoping to change that over the coming months. I'll also make the offer on FB, twitter and my blog if my lit is still small. Do you think it'd work? If anyone does try or has tried it let me know!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## Adair Hart

LorenBukovka said:


> Hi and good luck to all of you guys! I have a new release too. I only discovered kboards a few weeks before I published, and it's been really helpful -- many experienced and accomplished authors here to learn from.


Congratulations on your new release, Loren! I see you are #2 in your respective categories as of this post.



spellscribe said:


> So much good stuff in here
> 
> Re. Reviews, has anyone tried offering their mailing list a free ARC of book 2 if they send you a screenshot of their review on book 1? Of course this relies on a decent mailing list
> 
> I don't launch until end of Feb and currently have 4 subscribers including myself but I'm hoping to change that over the coming months. I'll also make the offer on FB, twitter and my blog if my lit is still small. Do you think it'd work? If anyone does try or has tried it let me know!


From what I have read, those with large lists sometimes have ARC specific sublists. I have 14 subscribers now, but will be utilizing a reader magnet and facebook ads via the Mark Dawson courses to get that up starting February. Jolie recently had a post on her success with that approach. Once my list gets up there, I will be offering those on my list an ARC for future books and for those that do, will put them into a separate list. Hopefully I will see some traction sometime next spring for book 3.

As for me, my second book has had a 1.24% salethrough so far from my sole free day for book 1 on the 15th. It got me onto the hot new releases list for space opera finally where I am in fine company with Veronica Sicoe!


----------



## Cherise

Lukeofkondor said:


> Finished the covers for Books 1 and 2 of my Sci-Fi Fantasy series. Can't wait to release them in Jan and Feb.


I LOVE those pitches on the covers! Make sure those are the first lines of your book descriptions.

And tell me when those books are available.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

JalexM said:


> But I got my book cover finally finished for my newish series. Which is now not getting released until February because i'm going to submit it to Kindle Scout.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The cover might change as I finished book 2 and look at combining book 1 and 2 together, which I think makes a better story, but will lead to less sells How many words are in book 2? My first book is only 406 pages and I have a KENP of 726. It took me a few formatting tries to get it that high. Try uploading it in mobi to see if it increases the count. Uploading in Mobi increased my page count.


That cover looks ace!

I just published The Hipster From Outer Space. My first novel. Hopefully it will kickstart 2016. Put book number 2 on pre-order too.

http://www.amazon.com/Hipster-Outer-Space-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01A01RBJG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451564000&sr=8-1&keywords=luke+kondor

My strategy is to make the book super cheap for the first few days, and then to go to 1.99. And then run a promo early Feb.

Do you guys have any ideas of what good promo sites are out there that aren't Bookbub?

Cheers! And Happy new Year!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Cherise Kelley said:


> I LOVE those pitches on the covers! Make sure those are the first lines of your book descriptions.
> 
> And tell me when those books are available.


Just saw this. Thanks so much!

Book 1 is up now for cheaps 

http://www.amazon.com/Hipster-Outer-Space-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01A01RBJG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451564000&sr=8-1&keywords=luke+kondor


----------



## Adair Hart

Lukeofkondor said:


> That cover looks ace!
> 
> Do you guys have any ideas of what good promo sites are out there that aren't Bookbub?
> 
> Cheers! And Happy new Year!


Congratulations on your release! I have been doing some research based on what others have done and threads here, and my lineup of advertisers for January 19-26 so far are:

ENT
RobinReads
Free Kindle Books and Tips (FKBT)
One Hundred free Books (OHFB)
ReadCheaply
ChoosyBookworm
BookBarbarian
Booksends
BettyBookFreak
Bknights
Awesomegang
BargainBooksy
FussyLibrarian
Genre Pulse
Books Butterfly
eBookSoda

I also did Freebooksy on Dec 15 , and if you're looking to do free, they rocked but aren't the cheapest option. There was a thread recently from PatriceWilliamMarks going over some of them. He lists out these as the big 5 outside of Bookbub:

ENT
Robin Reads
Booksends (only worth it if category pricing is low)
OHFB
*Bargain/Free Booksy (not as good as the other 5, but decent)

from http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,224546.0.html

Also, C Gockel has this list which I plan to hit still for some of the free ones:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RuBvSzJuy5jFg4-58EkkQ0G1OIuXzjN54CW-_CavdCA/edit?pli=1#gid=0

Since your book looks like it is science fiction, you could also use a free day on Patty's Promotion for first book free in the series and is on January 5th, 2016. Thread is here:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=225495.0

Sign up is at http://pattyjansen.com/promo/for-authors/. Just make sure to read the instructions!


----------



## Guest

Hello, Class of 2015!

Being that it's the last day of our Newbie year I thought I would just say congrats to all of us! We didn't just talk about it, we DID IT. No matter what threshold of success you're at now, you published. That's a huge first step.

I have learned so much in the last 6 months since publishing my first book. I started my journey in YA and end my year as a romance author, which just shows you that you never know where this adventure will take you. (I still consider myself a YA author too! Just concentrating more on my romance because... Well, money. And I love it.)

I hope 2016 brings all of you even more success and more sales. However you measure your own success, I hope all of us make it happen. Sincerely. Thanks for being a great group of newbs.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Well I guess that's 2015 more or less done; the year I became a published author. Put out 2 (short) novels, one novelette. Sold some, had nice people I don't know leave nice remarks. Nice. 

I'm not going full time any day soon, but it's confirmed for me that this is the right path for me to take, and that if I stay at it, perhaps in a few years I will make that leap to full time.

Got lots planned for 2016, probably mostly the second half. I'll cling on to being a 'newbie' for a good long while yet.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Adair Hart said:


> Congratulations on your release! I have been doing some research based on what others have done and threads here, and my lineup of advertisers for January 19-26 so far are:
> 
> ENT
> RobinReads
> Free Kindle Books and Tips (FKBT)
> One Hundred free Books (OHFB)
> ReadCheaply
> ChoosyBookworm
> BookBarbarian
> Booksends
> BettyBookFreak
> Bknights
> Awesomegang
> BargainBooksy
> FussyLibrarian
> Genre Pulse
> Books Butterfly
> eBookSoda
> 
> I also did Freebooksy on Dec 15 , and if you're looking to do free, they rocked but aren't the cheapest option. There was a thread recently from PatriceWilliamMarks going over some of them. He lists out these as the big 5 outside of Bookbub:
> 
> ENT
> Robin Reads
> Booksends (only worth it if category pricing is low)
> OHFB
> *Bargain/Free Booksy (not as good as the other 5, but decent)
> 
> from http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,224546.0.html
> 
> Also, C Gockel has this list which I plan to hit still for some of the free ones:
> 
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RuBvSzJuy5jFg4-58EkkQ0G1OIuXzjN54CW-_CavdCA/edit?pli=1#gid=0
> 
> Since your book looks like it is science fiction, you could also use a free day on Patty's Promotion for first book free in the series and is on January 5th, 2016. Thread is here:
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=225495.0
> 
> Sign up is at http://pattyjansen.com/promo/for-authors/. Just make sure to read the instructions!


Thanks for the list! Just applied to Patty's promo.

Going to look at scheduling a run of promos late Jan.


----------



## JTriptych

Adair Hart said:


> Congratulations on your release! I have been doing some research based on what others have done and threads here, and my lineup of advertisers for January 19-26 so far are:
> 
> ENT
> RobinReads
> Free Kindle Books and Tips (FKBT)
> One Hundred free Books (OHFB)
> ReadCheaply
> ChoosyBookworm
> BookBarbarian
> Booksends
> BettyBookFreak
> Bknights
> Awesomegang
> BargainBooksy
> FussyLibrarian
> Genre Pulse
> Books Butterfly
> eBookSoda
> 
> I also did Freebooksy on Dec 15 , and if you're looking to do free, they rocked but aren't the cheapest option. There was a thread recently from PatriceWilliamMarks going over some of them. He lists out these as the big 5 outside of Bookbub:
> 
> ENT
> Robin Reads
> Booksends (only worth it if category pricing is low)
> OHFB
> *Bargain/Free Booksy (not as good as the other 5, but decent)
> 
> from http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,224546.0.html
> 
> Also, C Gockel has this list which I plan to hit still for some of the free ones:
> 
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RuBvSzJuy5jFg4-58EkkQ0G1OIuXzjN54CW-_CavdCA/edit?pli=1#gid=0
> 
> Since your book looks like it is science fiction, you could also use a free day on Patty's Promotion for first book free in the series and is on January 5th, 2016. Thread is here:
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=225495.0
> 
> Sign up is at http://pattyjansen.com/promo/for-authors/. Just make sure to read the instructions!


Excellent ad plan for next year, I think you will be a big gun pretty soon!

Oh, how come you didnt include Bookbub ad campaign?


----------



## Adair Hart

Lukeofkondor said:


> Thanks for the list! Just applied to Patty's promo.
> 
> Going to look at scheduling a run of promos late Jan.


Awesome man, good luck!



JTriptych said:


> Oh, how come you didnt include Bookbub ad campaign?


I applied to Bookbub and they slapped me and said to get my newbiness out of there 



BelleAC said:


> Hello, Class of 2015!
> 
> Being that it's the last day of our Newbie year I thought I would just say congrats to all of us! We didn't just talk about it, we DID IT. No matter what threshold of success you're at now, you published. That's a huge first step.
> 
> I have learned so much in the last 6 months since publishing my first book. I started my journey in YA and end my year as a romance author, which just shows you that you never know where this adventure will take you. (I still consider myself a YA author too! Just concentrating more on my romance because... Well, money. And I love it.)
> 
> I hope 2016 brings all of you even more success and more sales. However you measure your own success, I hope all of us make it happen. Sincerely. Thanks for being a great group of newbs.


Awesome stuff! You know, we will look at this thread next year and if you read the first page, it will look like all these authors with a bunch of books out talking about how to get started  2015 newbs unite!



Matthew Stott said:


> Well I guess that's 2015 more or less done; the year I became a published author. Put out 2 (short) novels, one novelette. Sold some, had nice people I don't know leave nice remarks. Nice.
> 
> I'm not going full time any day soon, but it's confirmed for me that this is the right path for me to take, and that if I stay at it, perhaps in a few years I will make that leap to full time.
> 
> Got lots planned for 2016, probably mostly the second half. I'll cling on to being a 'newbie' for a good long while yet.


I think you have done excellent Matthew! I saw your other thread where you mentioned sales and downloads and it looks like they have been generous to you. Don't forget you also put up a site as well! I hear yas on being a newbie, I still feel like one trying to get my grounding, but all in due time!

As for me, this day last year, I was vowing to get something, anything, published. I exceeded it by one book so on the right track, I hope. We will need to get some paddle boards to welcome the class of 2016! Hope everyone has a great New Year's!.


----------



## TheLemontree

8am here on January 1st! 

Thanks for a great 2015. This time last year, publishing a book wasn't even on my radar. 

Now I've got that 'I have no idea what I'm doing' first book out into the big wide world and I'm working on my 'hmm this is taking longer than I thought it would' second book. 

For 2016? I'm going way out of my comfort zone and trying fiction. I'd love to write fiction, so here's hoping I'm even halfway good at story-telling. 

Thank you kboards, and thank you 2015 newbies. Without this board I would have given up by now through frustration at not knowing how to do *anything* in this writing / publishing game. 

Happy 2016 to everyone.


----------



## Guest

Happy to say Deviations is now off to my editor   A February launch is looking fairly certain, so yay for book 2!

I'm likely going to redo Aisuru's covers sometime in 2016, even if it's just doing a print version of the current eBook cover (though thinking that still needs a few tweaks too) and updating the print with some much better formatting similar to what I did with the eBook already.  (eBooks really are so much easier to update LOL).  Meanwhile I threw the copies I have in stock at the house on sale to try and clear the inventory.

Hoping next year I'll not only launch Deviations (and have it be a better out the gate start than Aisuru), but also revise and release my first short for my mailing list subscribers and my third novel, currently titled Girl in the Forest.

2015 was certainly a launch year full of mistakes and misteps and learning lessons the hard way, tons of frustrations, but most of all the excitement and fun of finally taking that step of publishing my first novel!


----------



## JTriptych

Adair Hart said:


> As for me, this day last year, I was vowing to get something, anything, published. I exceeded it by one book so on the right track, I hope. We will need to get some paddle boards to welcome the class of 2016! Hope everyone has a great New Year's!.


This is exactly how I feel. I may suck as a writer, publisher and marketer but I can say I accomplished something since I got two novels out in 2015. Ive made mistakes and I'm sure I'll make new ones but I will look at last year as my first year of finally starting my dream as a writer!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Oh my, another thread I need to be on! I found KBoards a couple of weeks ago when I got into Kindle Scout and another Scout book author sent me there. My campaign finishes 1/9, and if I am not chosen for Kindle Press, I will launch on KDP (and in print) immediately after that. I look forward to reading through back posts and getting to know you folks!

Happy New Year!


----------



## Guest

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!  You never know what can happen in a year. So for those of you who are not quite where you want to be in your writing careers, hang in there!

That's what I plan to do!  

Here's wishing us all an awesome 2016!


----------



## spellscribe

Jolie du Pre said:


> So for those of you who are not quite where you want to be in your writing careers, hang in there!


If you're not where you're going just make sure you're on the way 

As for me? I can finally say THIS YEAR I will publish a fiction book, launch my series and start my career!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Dominique Mondesir

Just think.

This time next year, we won't be allowed to call ourselves newbies anymore.


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## Adair Hart

For those in the class of 2016, below is the link to the 2016 class badge if you wanted to put it in your signature:



Code:


[url=http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,150985.msg2188356.html#msg2188356][IMG]http://www.adairhart.com/content/images/2016_Class_badge.png[/IMG][/url]


----------



## Gabriel_Legend

Hello, I too am brand new here. I've been playing with the Amazon publishing platform for a couple of years now, but haven't gotten serious until now. I'm a freelance nonfiction writer but I hope one day to give that up and just write horror fiction. That's been my dream since I was old enough to read. So, once again, hello!


----------



## JalexM

Lukeofkondor said:


> Just saw this. Thanks so much!
> 
> Book 1 is up now for cheaps
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Hipster-Outer-Space-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B01A01RBJG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451564000&sr=8-1&keywords=luke+kondor


I will get a copy when I get my next check!


----------



## benjclark

Adair Hart said:


> For those in the class of 2016, below is the link to the 2016 class badge if you wanted to put it in your signature:


Goal for 2016: Earn the Class of 2016 badge and even more important; add my first cover to my sig.


----------



## spellscribe

Class of 2016 = published this year right? Do I use the badge now or only after I hit the button?

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Adair Hart

spellscribe said:


> Class of 2016 = published this year right? Do I use the badge now or only after I hit the button?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


There are no hard or fast rules for it, it's just a playful badge  The intent was to represent the year you launched as an autho, but if you want to use it knowing your publishing this year, have at it!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Think I've updated the signature correctly.


----------



## ShinyPants

Hello, world! Since I just published my first book today (it just went live! ), I'm thinking that this is the thread for me.

I've been lurking for about a month and just bit the bullet and published. It's only a short novella, but I really (really) wanted to hit "publish". Now I'm almost 1,000 words into the first real book in the series, so I'll be in and out of here, I'm sure, with all the newbie questions and running around making all the newbie mistakes.

High fives all around.


----------



## SaraD

Congrats ShinyPants! Love the name 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Jakob Brown

Congrats ShinyPants.  I'm looking at publishing this year and I've been lurking for a few months as well .


----------



## ShinyPants

Adair Hart said:


> For those in the class of 2016, below is the link to the 2016 class badge if you wanted to put it in your signature:
> ...


Thank you!



SaraD said:


> Congrats ShinyPants! Love the name


Haha, thanks! It's my gamer tag from Diablo days. It was good luck there, so I was hoping to bring some of that over here. 



Jakob Brown said:


> Congrats ShinyPants. I'm looking at publishing this year and I've been lurking for a few months as well .


Isn't it great and inspiring to come here and read?


----------



## Guest

Congrats to Gabriel and ShinyPants! As someone who lurked for YEARS before being brave enough to publish and post here, I welcome you to the other side! It's very nice over here. Stay awhile. 

My 2016 is starting off really fantastic. I wish you all the same good fortune! Study the market you want to write in, read the bestsellers, and do your best to emulate them while writing the best story YOU can. It isn't easy, but it's worth it.

And Happy New Year, Jolie!! Really looking forward to seeing what happens for both of us!


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> Congrats to Gabriel and ShinyPants! As someone who lurked for YEARS before being brave enough to publish and post here, I welcome you to the other side! It's very nice over here. Stay awhile.
> 
> My 2016 is starting off really fantastic. I wish you all the same good fortune! Study the market you want to write in, read the bestsellers, and do your best to emulate them while writing the best story YOU can. It isn't easy, but it's worth it.
> 
> And Happy New Year, Jolie!! Really looking forward to seeing what happens for both of us!


And . . . . you're helping to rid the notion that novellas don't sell. I'm getting tried of that myth. Congrats again!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Novellas sell! Kill that myth dead.

Wanted to chime in to say congrats to my fellow class of 2015 newbies and best wishes to the 2016 class! If you're still on the fence, come and join the newbie brigade! Hit publish! Come on!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Jim Johnson said:


> If you're still on the fence, come and join the newbie brigade! Hit publish! Come on!


Hear, hear.


----------



## Guest

Jolie du Pre said:


> And . . . . you're helping to rid the notion that novellas don't sell. I'm getting tried of that myth. Congrats again!


Yeah, that myth definitely needs to die. My full novels are actually my worst sellers! Who knew?


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> Yeah, that myth definitely needs to die. My full novels are actually my worst sellers! Who knew?


What sort of word length are your novellas...? I'm going to start a new series in the second half of 2016, short-ish books, and I'm debating how long to make each.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Matthew I was thinking the same thing. I'm doing a trilogy of 80k novels now, but I was going to try a trilogy of 30k novellas in the second half of the year.


----------



## Darius Brasher

Hello all! This is my second ever post on KBoards. I've been lurking on KBoards for almost a year and self-publishing over a year under a few different pen names. I've profited from a lot of the advice here over all these months, so I thought I'd finally start posting and try to give back to the community.

You'll no doubt be hearing more from me in the days and weeks to come, but in the meantime, happy New Year! I hope we all achieve our writing goals, whatever they might be.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Lukeofkondor said:


> Matthew I was thinking the same thing. I'm doing a trilogy of 80k novels now, but I was going to try a trilogy of 30k novellas in the second half of the year.


At the moment I'm thinking a little longer, the 50-to-55k range, which I know is technically novel length. But I might dial that down once I actually get round to them.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> What sort of word length are your novellas...? I'm going to start a new series in the second half of 2016, short-ish books, and I'm debating how long to make each.


Quite short. The average is 14k. My longest is 22k. But I think the length can depend on genre. I think you can get away with shorter more in romance than say Sci-Fi or UF. But I still say go for it either way! The big plus to novellas is you can publish more often, which enables you to tickle the algos more. I have published 5 romance titles in the last month. I've been doing it to try to build a readership for my Kindle Press book (it's full length at 60k) that comes out next month, but they have done much much better than I could have ever hoped. So I think I will be writing them for a while.


----------



## Matthew Stott

BelleAC said:


> Quite short. The average is 14k. My longest is 22k. But I think the length can depend on genre. I think you can get away with shorter more in romance than say Sci-Fi or UF. But I still say go for it either way! The big plus to novellas is you can publish more often, which enables you to tickle the algos more. I have published 5 romance titles in the last month. I've been doing it to try to build a readership for my Kindle Press book (it's full length at 60k) that comes out next month, but they have done much much better than I could have ever hoped. So I think I will be writing them for a while.


Interesting, thanks! Congrats on the success.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Odd; Amazon have sent me a 'Quality Notice' as there's no page break between the end of the final chapter and the back matter. I didn't realise that would be a problem, maybe someone complained..? I didn't add a page break so that the reader wouldn't miss my list sign up message, but it looks like I'll have to add one. Not the end of the world, just a little unexpected...!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Wow ... that is weird. Can't see why it would be much of a problem.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Odd; Amazon have sent me a 'Quality Notice' as there's no page break between the end of the final chapter and the back matter. I didn't realise that would be a problem, maybe someone complained..? I didn't add a page break so that the reader wouldn't miss my list sign up message, but it looks like I'll have to add one. Not the end of the world, just a little unexpected...!


That's so bizarre. I don't have a page break before mine because I want readers to see it. Ugh! Sorry that happened.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Thanks! All the books in my sig are set up the same way, but they just emailed me about my first release, which came out back at the start of October. I'll just alter that one and see if the others slip through.


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> Odd; Amazon have sent me a 'Quality Notice' as there's no page break between the end of the final chapter and the back matter. I didn't realise that would be a problem, maybe someone complained..? I didn't add a page break so that the reader wouldn't miss my list sign up message, but it looks like I'll have to add one. Not the end of the world, just a little unexpected...!


Retaliate by putting an ad for your mailing list at the end of every page break.


----------



## Matthew Stott

So, a new year, how long until you put out your first work for this year? I should have the third in my Tales From Between series out at the start of Feb.


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> Retaliate by putting an ad for your mailing list at the end of every page break.


I may just put it in the middle of random chapters, that way no one is missing it....


----------



## spellscribe

My first fic book will.be out on Feb 25!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## Steve Boseley

Only just found this thread - excellent!
I've been writing for about 3 years, but i've just decided to self-publish my first book.  Trying to work out the best way to attack the launch has been driving me crazy!  What with websites, social media, branding, etc.  This thread (and the forum in general) will be really helpful in that process.
Currently, I am finishing editing, but i wanted to get a website up and perhaps begin generating an email list, Facebook likes, etc.

Thanks to everyone here, and i hope to be able to contribute my experiences!


----------



## spellscribe

Steve Boseley said:


> Trying to work out the best way to attack the launch has been driving me crazy! What with websites, social media, branding, etc. This thread (and the forum in general) will be really helpful in that process.


I feel your crazy!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Lukeofkondor

Matthew Stott said:


> So, a new year, how long until you put out your first work for this year? I should have the third in my Tales From Between series out at the start of Feb.


The Hipster Who Leapt Through Time should be out by March 1st. And then ... well I was going to jump straight into the third book for a July release but I might take a break and write a novella.


----------



## Eva Chase

Hey all! Been busy with holiday stuff, but hoping to have a little more time to hang out here again now.  Great to see so many of you doing well!



Matthew Stott said:


> So, a new year, how long until you put out your first work for this year? I should have the third in my Tales From Between series out at the start of Feb.


I just put out book 2 in my series on Tuesday, and I have book 3 scheduled for the end of March. I wanted to take advantage of the holiday gift card spending. 



BelleAC said:


> Quite short. The average is 14k. My longest is 22k. But I think the length can depend on genre. I think you can get away with shorter more in romance than say Sci-Fi or UF. But I still say go for it either way! The big plus to novellas is you can publish more often, which enables you to tickle the algos more. I have published 5 romance titles in the last month. I've been doing it to try to build a readership for my Kindle Press book (it's full length at 60k) that comes out next month, but they have done much much better than I could have ever hoped. So I think I will be writing them for a while.


That's great to hear! I've been poking at the idea of doing a novella series or serial for a while. One of the things that's always made me hesitate is promotion. I know a lot of the promo sites only take full length books (150+ pages or whatever). How have you gotten word out about your novellas?


----------



## Jim Johnson

Eva Chase said:


> That's great to hear! I've been poking at the idea of doing a novella series or serial for a while. One of the things that's always made me hesitate is promotion. I know a lot of the promo sites only take full length books (150+ pages or whatever). How have you gotten word out about your novellas?


I've used Bettybookfreaks and Bargain/freebooksy for my novellas without any issues.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> So, a new year, how long until you put out your first work for this year? I should have the third in my Tales From Between series out at the start of Feb.


Aiming to release Deviations in late February 



Matthew Stott said:


> Odd; Amazon have sent me a 'Quality Notice' as there's no page break between the end of the final chapter and the back matter. I didn't realise that would be a problem, maybe someone complained..? I didn't add a page break so that the reader wouldn't miss my list sign up message, but it looks like I'll have to add one. Not the end of the world, just a little unexpected...!


I wonder if they feel it might throw off the "end of book" marker or something?


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> So, a new year, how long until you put out your first work for this year? I should have the third in my Tales From Between series out at the start of Feb.


I published on January 4th and I will be publishing January 13th, 22nd, and 30th.  And my Kindle Press book from Amazon should be out the first of February. They haven't given me a date yet.

Trying to start the year with a bang!


----------



## Guest

BelleAC said:


> I published on January 4th and I will be publishing January 13th, 22nd, and 30th.  And my Kindle Press book from Amazon should be out the first of February. They haven't given me a date yet.
> 
> Trying to start the year with a bang!


Yeah, once a week is the plan with my new pen name.

Taking February to study the genre. In March, I'll get everything set up and get started on the writing.

I'm keeping my new pen name private. I want to start over without any barriers. (Plus, I want to write in peace.) Will still publish my PNR/Horror books under Jolie du Pre.

By the end of 2016, I'm confident I will have reached my goals.


----------



## paigemarcella

Matthew Stott said:


> So, a new year, how long until you put out your first work for this year? I should have the third in my Tales From Between series out at the start of Feb.


New YA, dystopian series, Eminent Series, released January 1, 2016. Release for next five parts is Jan. 16, Jan. 30, Feb. 13, Feb. 27, March 5!!!

I'll put all six together at end of March for Eminent Book 1.

Working on first draft of Book 2. Or I was until I got distracted by Kboards....


----------



## Lukeofkondor

I just checked my dashboard for the first time in a while.

I'm a combination of super excited and kind of terrified. The dashboard was pretty much a flatline for a long time, but there's a huge spike in sales and KENP reads and there's stuff happening. It's probably not much to a lot of people but as a newbie this is kind of massive for me. 

I dunno what to think of it. I'm excited that after ALL of the hard work I banked last year it's finally starting to pay (to a degree), but I'm scared that all of these people are reading it, judging it, picking it apart, just looking for reasons to give it a bad review.

Any of you guys worry about that nonsense?


----------



## Guest

Lukeofkondor said:


> I just checked my dashboard for the first time in a while.
> 
> I'm a combination of super excited and kind of terrified. The dashboard was pretty much a flatline for a long time, but there's a huge spike in sales and KENP reads and there's stuff happening. It's probably not much to a lot of people but as a newbie this is kind of massive for me.
> 
> I dunno what to think of it. I'm excited that after ALL of the hard work I banked last year it's finally starting to pay (to a degree), but I'm scared that all of these people are reading it, judging it, picking it apart, just looking for reasons to give it a bad review.
> 
> Any of you guys worry about that nonsense?


Your book is selling.   Throw your fears in the trash and press on. Get that next book out as soon as possible, and rinse and repeat as soon as possible.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Lukeofkondor said:


> I just checked my dashboard for the first time in a while.
> 
> I'm a combination of super excited and kind of terrified. The dashboard was pretty much a flatline for a long time, but there's a huge spike in sales and KENP reads and there's stuff happening. It's probably not much to a lot of people but as a newbie this is kind of massive for me.
> 
> I dunno what to think of it. I'm excited that after ALL of the hard work I banked last year it's finally starting to pay (to a degree), but I'm scared that all of these people are reading it, judging it, picking it apart, just looking for reasons to give it a bad review.
> 
> Any of you guys worry about that nonsense?


Well done, first of all! But to your other point, not really. I worry for a moment or two when I actually see a bad review, but other than that I'm super happy at the idea of as many people reading whatever I put out as possible. And if loads see it, then quite a few people not liking it is a given.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Lukeofkondor said:


> I just checked my dashboard for the first time in a while.
> 
> . . .
> 
> Any of you guys worry about that nonsense?


Congrats, Luke, for some signs of life! As for me, since my debut work is a Kindle Scout entry, I have lots of data for the first month it's been "out there," but I won't have any revenue to show for it when my campaign ends Saturday!  It's a tradeoff, like those freebies many offer. Cheering you on here . . .


----------



## Matthew Stott

Oh, Amazon really seem to be trying to tick me off today...!
Now, an silly one star review that Amazon removed weeks ago (complained that a kids book was a kids book.....) has been put back.  
I kinda didn't mind it being there in the end, as anyone who reads it can see it's daft, but why remove it, then weeks later put it back? ODD.


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

Lukeofkondor said:


> I just checked my dashboard for the first time in a while.
> 
> I'm a combination of super excited and kind of terrified. The dashboard was pretty much a flatline for a long time, but there's a huge spike in sales and KENP reads and there's stuff happening. It's probably not much to a lot of people but as a newbie this is kind of massive for me.
> 
> I dunno what to think of it. I'm excited that after ALL of the hard work I banked last year it's finally starting to pay (to a degree), but I'm scared that all of these people are reading it, judging it, picking it apart, just looking for reasons to give it a bad review.
> 
> Any of you guys worry about that nonsense?


Congrats! Your book is selling and that's a great thing. Don't worry about the reviews because you can't control those.


----------



## Adair Hart

Steve Boseley said:


> Only just found this thread - excellent!
> I've been writing for about 3 years, but i've just decided to self-publish my first book. Trying to work out the best way to attack the launch has been driving me crazy! What with websites, social media, branding, etc. This thread (and the forum in general) will be really helpful in that process.
> Currently, I am finishing editing, but i wanted to get a website up and perhaps begin generating an email list, Facebook likes, etc.
> 
> Thanks to everyone here, and i hope to be able to contribute my experiences!





Darius Brasher said:


> Hello all! This is my second ever post on KBoards. I've been lurking on KBoards for almost a year and self-publishing over a year under a few different pen names. I've profited from a lot of the advice here over all these months, so I thought I'd finally start posting and try to give back to the community.
> 
> You'll no doubt be hearing more from me in the days and weeks to come, but in the meantime, happy New Year! I hope we all achieve our writing goals, whatever they might be.


Welcome Steve and Darius!



Lukeofkondor said:


> I just checked my dashboard for the first time in a while.
> 
> I'm a combination of super excited and kind of terrified. The dashboard was pretty much a flatline for a long time, but there's a huge spike in sales and KENP reads and there's stuff happening. It's probably not much to a lot of people but as a newbie this is kind of massive for me.
> 
> I dunno what to think of it. I'm excited that after ALL of the hard work I banked last year it's finally starting to pay (to a degree), but I'm scared that all of these people are reading it, judging it, picking it apart, just looking for reasons to give it a bad review.
> 
> Any of you guys worry about that nonsense?


Congratulations Luke! I wouldn't worry too much about getting those type of reviews. Everyone gets them at some point. Just focus on the positive ones when they come in if you want to read them. If you're bored and want to be entertained, check out my first book on Goodreads 



Matthew Stott said:


> So, a new year, how long until you put out your first work for this year? I should have the third in my Tales From Between series out at the start of Feb.


Awesome man, busy bee over there! My reader magnet prequel novella (20k) goes to copyedit Jan 26, then out and hopefully making subscribers flock to my list by end of February. It's the first work where I used Libbie Hawkers approach to outlining, versus the modified K.M Wieland one I was using. I would have been done late last month, but after reading libbbies book, something clicked in my head, so I redid my outline, and refactored my story accordingly and it will be finished this weekend! Book 3 (90k) is targeted toward late march/early april.


----------



## spellscribe

Adair what are the key differences between the two methods? 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## MelodieRochelle

I'm glad you started this because now I can read on more on what to expect.


----------



## Adair Hart

spellscribe said:


> Adair what are the key differences between the two methods?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


I read both the structuring and outlining book from K.M Wieland, and it was a major factor in the structure/outline of both of my books. The story structure one really stuck out to me. The outlining book though, to me, was more of a checklist of what should be done, which is fine, especially if you have been writing for a while. Libbies was more of a take out a paper and pencil, and let's go through this step by step. I'm a software developer by trade, and used to abstract concepts, but sometimes the concrete implementation of said abstract concepts is very helpful.

I guess the biggest difference for me, was that my prequel novella has chapter/scene breaks based more on the character arc than the plot. The plot was built around the character, whereas I think my first two books were more plot heavy oriented (as some reviews will point out) with character development put in. When I finished my outline for my prequel, it seemed like a much more substantive story, and I even cut a few scenes!

My new approach is to use the story structure I am familiar with, but focus on character development as the main chapter/scene breaker where possible, while also keeping the main points of story structure in mind in terms of location(pinch points, etc). I also kept some of my modifications to the outline, such as chronology and when new technology/concepts for the setting are introduced. I'm a new writer so can take all this with a grain of salt, but that has been my experience so far


----------



## AndrewSeiple

Hey there! I'm a member of the class of 2015, I guess... would have been out this way sooner, but I didn't know about these boards until a few days ago.

I've been informally writing fanfiction for years. Had a great lot of fun with it, out at Spacebattles.com, and fanfiction.net, as well as other places. Though I'm not as prolific as some, I estimate I put about half a million words to the screen, or more. Some of it was good, some of it was bad, and none of it was ever properly finished.

But everything changed last year. I started writing in earnest last January. I was in a bad spot at work, and when I came home every night I'd work on a novel to soothe my nerves. Writing helps me de-stress. But then, an unexpected thing happened. I finished the novel, and it was actually pretty good! I sent it around to Betas, adjusted it. Sent it around to other Beta readers, adjusted it some more. Hired an amateur editing team, adjusted it some more. In between waiting for beta readers to finish, I got bored and wrote a novella and a short story. In shopping those around to betas and critique sites, I found a self-pubbed author willing to do some more professional editing on my work, and we remain fast friends to this day. I used absolutewrite.com, and critiquecircle.com, and other places to hammer out the novel, and polish it as best as I could. I tried my hand at making covers, got help from other authors, and friends.

I had a hope of attracting an agent or finding a publisher, around May or so. That didn't work out too well. Three good months of trying and naught but polite, non-informative rejections... well, I said to hell with it. I'll do it myself!

July came and the novella was as good as I could get it, and I thought it a good read. I also thought that it'd be a good way to dabble, and experiment. So I published it to Amazon's kindle store, to see what would happen.

It didn't do much. Didn't help that I made the mistake of initially pricing it at $1.99. I managed double-digit sales, barely, moved it up to $2.99, and did a bit better. I'd deliberately left it out of KU just to act as a control case. I did this because the short story was about done, and I wanted to see how it would do.

In August, I released the short story, in KU from the start, using three of the free days at the very launch, then reverting back to 99 cents after. And after the free days were done, it still sold pretty decent. Better, it helped pick up the sales for Thin Black Line (Which I grudgingly moved to KU in October. KENP is KENP, y'know?)

With the money I earned from these two books, I purchased good cover art for my novel, got editing wrapped up, and prepared myself.

I released Dire:Born on Black Friday, and notified my friends on the fanfic boards. They know Dire. They know the kind of stories I write.

They swarm the boards and get me in the single-digit ranking for the superhero keyword, and keep me there for a few days.

After that it fades a bit, down to single-digit sales... but it's steady. And it's finally a book large enough to actually make a difference in KENP, and I'm averaging four-digit KENP's each day.

It's still going on.

We're well past the usual fanfic crowd that I scare up from the boards, and someone's still out there buying copies.

I'm kind of blown away by it... It's an interesting ride. Hasn't been without its bumps. I don't have a mailing list yet, and I only just started a blog. 

I did create a print version through Createspace. Got the joy of handing my parents a signed copy as a Christmas present, so that's one life goal down right there.

Got an offer out on ACX, but I don't know if anything will come of it. Doesn't matter. If it doesn't work out I'll pull it back, and put it up again when I've got the first trilogy done.

I'm hard at work on the sequel, checking the numbers daily with a grin, and today I broke five hundred copies of Dire:Born. (Counting KU checkouts, mind you.) This, when each of my earlier short fiction ebooks has barely broken triple digits. A month and a half and it's five hundred sales... this without any real marketing, beyond telling the fanfiction crowd "Hey I published a thing!"

So. Yeah.

I found my new job. Now I just have to keep at it until it pays better than my day job, and hop on over.

And I heard this was the place to be to learn the ways of the Kindle and ebooks in general. I like learning! Especially when I can see exactly how much it pays off, via the KDP dashboard.

Pleased to meet you all, and thanks for reading! I hope to spend a lot of time chatting with everyone, over all sorts of nifty things.


----------



## lilywhite

Welcome, Andrew!!


----------



## Dominique Mondesir

Adair

Would you recommended the K. M. Weiland books? I really loved take off your pants, and it improved my craft greatly. And I am always looking out for more courses and books on writing to help my craft, so I was just wondering if I should buy it?

Let me know what you think.

Thanks


----------



## Adair Hart

Dominique Mondesir said:


> Adair
> 
> Would you recommended the K. M. Weiland books? I really loved take off your pants, and it improved my craft greatly. And I am always looking out for more courses and books on writing to help my craft, so I was just wondering if I should buy it?
> 
> Let me know what you think.
> 
> Thanks


For me, "Structuring Your Novel" was a great read. "Outlining Your Novel" was good too, and I am always a proponent of looking at things from different perspectives on the same subject matter. I was studying the two parts of a Scene, the scene and sequel along with MRU's and how to set those up at the time and "Structuring Your Novel" was great for that. I don't think you can go wrong by picking the books up though. You can actually check out the lighter version of the story structure book online in her blog posts at these two urls:

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/secrets-story-structure-complete-series/
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-structure-scenes/

I will continue to read other structure books and outlining books as I come across them. There was a recent thread about outlining books which had some books listed for outlining. I also want to check out Libbie's recommendation of John Truby's "Anatomy of Story" at some point.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Jolie, Matthew, Cindy, GhostGirlWriter, Adair -- Thanks!


It's strange because I'm no stranger to putting art out there. Some of my short films have been watched 40k times and that never phased me. But the key difference there was, I made aLOT of films. So I never really cared if people didn't like them. I had more anyway.

So I NEED to get my ass into gear. It's the only cure. I need to produce a shit load of stuff. 


Hey Andrew! Welcome. This particular thread is a great place for new publishers.


----------



## AndrewSeiple

Thanks Lilywhite, thanks Lukeofkondor!

I'm looking forward to sharing experiences and getting good advice. This looks like a healthy, busy board. Maybe we can keep up with each other...


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

If anyone is thinking about Kindle Scout, note that there's an open chat Sunday night on Facebook, hosted by Kindle Scout Winners, with the public welcome. My campaign ends today, so I'll be in limbo myself, but I'm eager to learn what the winners have to share! https://www.facebook.com/events/194851477530501/


----------



## The_Empress

ah, okay, found the thread I want to be in.

I'm Josephine (Josie's fine too). I posted already on the Welcomes and Introductions thread, so I won't repeat it all there, but suffice to say I'm aspiring Class of 2016. Haven't published my first book yet (or set up an Amazon author page, or gotten my own website, etc. etc. ... or finished the book yet, for that matter ).

thank you all for having me. interested and inspired by stories like this, from Andrew, above:



> I'm hard at work on the sequel, checking the numbers daily with a grin, and today I broke five hundred copies of Dire:Born. (Counting KU checkouts, mind you.) This, when each of my earlier short fiction ebooks has barely broken triple digits. A month and a half and it's five hundred sales... this without any real marketing, beyond telling the fanfiction crowd "Hey I published a thing!"
> 
> So. Yeah.
> 
> I found my new job. Now I just have to keep at it until it pays better than my day job, and hop on over.


So hello! Now to go downstairs and actually do some writing!


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Got a couple of reviews in. 4 stars on Goodreads, and 4 stars on Amazon US. I'm happy with that. I'm more happy with the authors he likens the book to. Douglas Adams, Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami and Douglas Coupland. That's about spot on now that I think about it.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Welcome, Josie, and great job, Luke!


----------



## SarahHope

Hi just thought is jump on board here! My names Sarah and I published my first book 'A Locket of Memories' on Amazon late December. It's a stand alone so not expecting great things but have sold one (whoop, whoop) and had a few borrows from ku. I am finding it amazing to think that some people (not many but still...) have chosen to read my book! 
I haven't done any promotion as yet which I know is a bit daft but an concentrating on writing the first book in a series I have planned. 
I love this group and have been reading posts for a while now. It's amazing to hear other people's adventures in the world of self publishing and I have gained a lot of advice so thanks to all!
Anyway 'hello'. So happy to finally be here!
X


----------



## JalexM

Lukeofkondor said:


> Got a couple of reviews in. 4 stars on Goodreads, and 4 stars on Amazon US. I'm happy with that. I'm more happy with the authors he likens the book to. Douglas Adams, Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami and Douglas Coupland. That's about spot on now that I think about it.


Nice on the reviews! 


Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> If anyone is thinking about Kindle Scout, note that there's an open chat Sunday night on Facebook, hosted by Kindle Scout Winners, with the public welcome. My campaign ends today, so I'll be in limbo myself, but I'm eager to learn what the winners have to share! https://www.facebook.com/events/194851477530501/


I just submitted my campaign to Kindle Scout. Now, I wait.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

JalexM said:


> Nice on the reviews! I just submitted my campaign to Kindle Scout. Now, I wait.


Welcome, Sarah, and Jalex, congrats on the Scout submission--they responded to me within a few hours, my campaign started about 36 hours later, and I think it's typically pretty quick. My campaign finished Saturday and I'm waiting on the other end to find out the verdict!


----------



## LCarter

Hello everybody!  

My name is Leigh and I'm in the process of writing a sci-fi trilogy (space opera with dash of military). Very excited to start working towards self-publishing! 

Are there other space opera newbie writers here? I'd love some company.


----------



## spellscribe

LCarter said:


> Are there other space opera newbie writers here? I'd love some company.


I'm not yet but hope to write a space western for my next series 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## LCarter

spellscribe said:


> I'm not yet but hope to write a space western for my next series
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


That sounds right up my alley! After all, isn't Star Wars basically a space western? Han Solo's pretty much a cowboy...


----------



## ShinyPants

LCarter said:


> Are there other space opera newbie writers here? I'd love some company.


Holla! 

I'm also working on a space opera trilogy at the moment, so *fist bump*


----------



## spellscribe

LCarter said:


> That sounds right up my alley! After all, isn't Star Wars basically a space western? Han Solo's pretty much a cowboy...


More firefly than star wars 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Jim Johnson

A space opera series is on my horizon, but I won't get around to it until 2017 most likely. I'll cheer you all on in the meantime!

In other news, I got the last of four pieces of interior art for the print version of episode 1, and am working through the createspace stuff. Just bought an ISBN, woo!  Working with my layout guy to finalize the interior layout and the back cover text. Might be able to order proofs by the end of the week.

Also thinking about how to make some cover tweaks. And outlining the next couple books as well as a new series. Never a dull moment.


----------



## LCarter

ShinyPants said:


> Holla!
> 
> I'm also working on a space opera trilogy at the moment, so *fist bump*


Awesome. And if you ever need a critique partner or the like, I'd love to start a group of space opera writers to do that...


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> A space opera series is on my horizon, but I won't get around to it until 2017 most likely. I'll cheer you all on in the meantime!
> 
> In other news, I got the last of four pieces of interior art for the print version of episode 1, and am working through the createspace stuff. Just bought an ISBN, woo! Working with my layout guy to finalize the interior layout and the back cover text. Might be able to order proofs by the end of the week.
> 
> Also thinking about how to make some cover tweaks. And outlining the next couple books as well as a new series. Never a dull moment.


A space opera western!  Createspace wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. One thing I found is that when I read my books in another format, I caught things that were missed in a copy/dev edit/proofread/self-edit. I found one or two more when I did an audiobook and was doing the voice to text editing. That darn mind always playing tricks! Good luck on your print book!



JalexM said:


> Nice on the reviews! I just submitted my campaign to Kindle Scout. Now, I wait.


Good luck on Kindle Scout!



Lukeofkondor said:


> Got a couple of reviews in. 4 stars on Goodreads, and 4 stars on Amazon US. I'm happy with that. I'm more happy with the authors he likens the book to. Douglas Adams, Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami and Douglas Coupland. That's about spot on now that I think about it.


Awesome Luke, congratulations!



LCarter said:


> Hello everybody!
> 
> My name is Leigh and I'm in the process of writing a sci-fi trilogy (space opera with dash of military). Very excited to start working towards self-publishing!
> 
> Are there other space opera newbie writers here? I'd love some company.


Welcome Leigh! My series is science fiction adventure/space opera/time travel, though more on the adventure/time travel side. I feel like a newbie writer still, only having been published for about 4.5 months, so still learning things. Good luck on your series and starting down the path! Baby steps right? 

Also welcome to all the other newbies joining the thread! This is a great place to learn.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Adair Hart said:


> A space opera western!  Createspace wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. One thing I found is that when I read my books in another format, I caught things that were missed in a copy/dev edit/proofread/self-edit. I found one or two more when I did an audiobook and was doing the voice to text editing. That darn mind always playing tricks! Good luck on your print book


Thanks! I'm thinking about an audiobook verison next. How have your experiences been with audio?


----------



## The_Empress

Thank you for the welcomes, Cindy and Adair! *waves to other newbies*

Social-etiquette question I couldn't find an obvious answer for in the FAQ thread: is there a special place to go for posts that don't have a specific question or announcement, just kind of want to talk (or vent) about the writing process? I'm in the 1000-Words-a-Day thread*, but what I kind of want is a place to say on a semi-regular basis, "Hey all, I've got X and Y done and now I've got to work on Z, but today I woke up with a headache and the words aren't coming quickly, how's everyone else doing?" Idle chit-chat. I don't want to take it here if that's not the place for it.

* on a related note, I like Textilus Writer for the iPad, but if there's an easy way to select a block of text and get a word count, I haven't found it yet.


----------



## Matthew Stott

So far I've managed to be fairly disciplined this year; sitting down each night to put in a couple of hours. Determined to keep that going.
Currently putting the final tweaks to the third of my kids series, and the second draft of my next thing. The 'next thing' was going to be a six part serial, but I think I've changed my mind and it will now be three parts. Three 30,000 word novellas rather than six very short bits; so a mini-series.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> Thanks! I'm thinking about an audiobook verison next. How have your experiences been with audio?


I like the idea of audio, but haven't gone near yet. I think my kids series would make good audio books, but then I also hear that the longer the story the better as far as audio buyers are concerned, which kinda sinks my shorter kids books.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

The_Empress said:


> Thank you for the welcomes, Cindy and Adair! *waves to other newbies*
> 
> Social-etiquette question I couldn't find an obvious answer for in the FAQ thread: is there a special place to go for posts that don't have a specific question or announcement, just kind of want to talk (or vent) about the writing process? I'm in the 1000-Words-a-Day thread*, but what I kind of want is a place to say on a semi-regular basis, "Hey all, I've got X and Y done and now I've got to work on Z, but today I woke up with a headache and the words aren't coming quickly, how's everyone else doing?" Idle chit-chat. I don't want to take it here if that's not the place for it.
> 
> * on a related note, I like Textilus Writer for the iPad, but if there's an easy way to select a block of text and get a word count, I haven't found it yet.


Josie, I think you can just start a new thread of your own!


----------



## Adair Hart

Matthew Stott said:


> I like the idea of audio, but haven't gone near yet. I think my kids series would make good audio books, but then I also hear that the longer the story the better as far as audio buyers are concerned, which kinda sinks my shorter kids books.





Jim Johnson said:


> Thanks! I'm thinking about an audiobook verison next. How have your experiences been with audio?


My experience with ACX was pretty positive. I know the general rule is to not look at audiobooks until you have three books out or have a series that is doing well. However my decision was based on my dad and Lil sis being audiobook people and wanting it in audio format. That was enough for me to go ahead.

I was hesitant and read through all the threads here on kboards in regards to ACX (mostly the ones involving Rick Gualtieri, Chris Fox, Rosalind James or Mark Cooper). After that, I created a project on ACX, uploaded my audition script, which is just a sample of lines from your characters, and then put out my hand for a narrator to audition. All this is handled by ACX which made it fairly easy. I chose the royalty share option where I split 40% of royalties with a narrator, but after two weeks, I had no bites. I'm guessing for a new author with one book out at the time, there was probably some hesitation.

I checked out the narrator list at ACX and then chose one to audition, but also moved from royalty share to "per finished hour" or pfh of 0-50, 50-100, and 100-200. The auditions began to roll in. It took me a bit to go through their samples of my audition script, but I found one I liked. He was in the upper range of 200 and said he usually did it for more. However, we struck a deal, and I got him for a great price . As my book was 46k words, it was only about 5 hours long (the cost was the pfh x 5 hours), so maybe he took pity on me.  I did have to upload my manuscript to my narrator when the deal was struck.

I sent him a pronunciation guide based on questions he had, and after settling that, he did the first 15 minutes and I approved it. He then wrapped up the full book, and I listened along and compared it to my manuscript. I found a few errors, both in translation and to my surprise, in my manuscript! After marking them all in a separate document, I sent it to him, and he corrected them. My audiobook was then published on Dec 7 and on Dec 22 I did an audiobookblast (great promotion service!) to get some exposure and reviews. You can see the reviews on my audible page for my book, just search for Evaran. One thing I found interesting was that one review actually was put on Goodreads instead of Audible, and shows up on my eBook page there as a review. The people reviewing it seem to review all over the place, either on Audible, Goodreads, Amazon, or their own page. It's been about five weeks now, and I have sold 51 so far (though quite a few came from the audiobook blast).

Timewise it is an investment, but also a guilty pleasure to listen to your characters and story read aloud. My main character has a cadence/sound like Dr. Manhattan, and he did a great rendition of that. Another thing to note is if you link your audiobook on Amazon, they put a 4 minute and 58 second sample (an odd amount to me, why not five minutes) play link under your book on your product page. You can see an example on my first books product page. I just signed the contract for the second one, sent the pronunciation guide, and awaiting it back. Should be out mid February!


----------



## Jim Johnson

Great info, Adair! Thanks for sharing. Something else to budget for.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Thanks for the info, Adair! Certainly keen to have a go, but sounds like it's not a cost I can take on easily at the moment, if most do like an upfront fee. I'm already battering my credit card with a bunch of edit and front cover costs over the next three months..! 
Expensive business, this indie lark.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Matthew Stott said:


> Thanks for the info, Adair! Certainly keen to have a go, but sounds like it's not a cost I can take on easily at the moment, if most do like an upfront fee. I'm already battering my credit card with a bunch of edit and front cover costs over the next three months..!
> Expensive business, this indie lark.


Yeah, I can't quite grok the math. Looks like 100-200 per finished hour, so say a novella costs $500 to record with the flat option. It'd sell for $10-20, a price the author cannot set. Get 40% of that per sale. Not sure how many sales that would need to break even on the audiobook.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Learning more every day. Thank you, Adair, for sharing your experience. Please update as you have more stats.


----------



## GhostGirlWriter

The_Empress said:


> Thank you for the welcomes, Cindy and Adair! *waves to other newbies*
> 
> Social-etiquette question I couldn't find an obvious answer for in the FAQ thread: is there a special place to go for posts that don't have a specific question or announcement, just kind of want to talk (or vent) about the writing process? I'm in the 1000-Words-a-Day thread*, but what I kind of want is a place to say on a semi-regular basis, "Hey all, I've got X and Y done and now I've got to work on Z, but today I woke up with a headache and the words aren't coming quickly, how's everyone else doing?" Idle chit-chat. I don't want to take it here if that's not the place for it.
> 
> * on a related note, I like Textilus Writer for the iPad, but if there's an easy way to select a block of text and get a word count, I haven't found it yet.


You could start a Venting Writers thread. I'd definitely participate in that.


----------



## jazzywaltz

Adair Hart said:


> My experience with ACX was pretty positive. I know the general rule is to not look at audiobooks until you have three books out or have a series that is doing well. However my decision was based on my dad and Lil sis being audiobook people and wanting it in audio format. That was enough for me to go ahead.
> 
> I was hesitant and read through all the threads here on kboards in regards to ACX (mostly the ones involving Rick Gualtieri, Chris Fox, Rosalind James or Mark Cooper). After that, I created a project on ACX, uploaded my audition script, which is just a sample of lines from your characters, and then put out my hand for a narrator to audition. All this is handled by ACX which made it fairly easy. I chose the royalty share option where I split 40% of royalties with a narrator, but after two weeks, I had no bites. I'm guessing for a new author with one book out at the time, there was probably some hesitation.
> 
> I checked out the narrator list at ACX and then chose one to audition, but also moved from royalty share to "per finished hour" or pfh of 0-50, 50-100, and 100-200. The auditions began to roll in. It took me a bit to go through their samples of my audition script, but I found one I liked. He was in the upper range of 200 and said he usually did it for more. However, we struck a deal, and I got him for a great price . As my book was 46k words, it was only about 5 hours long (the cost was the pfh x 5 hours), so maybe he took pity on me.  I did have to upload my manuscript to my narrator when the deal was struck.
> 
> I sent him a pronunciation guide based on questions he had, and after settling that, he did the first 15 minutes and I approved it. He then wrapped up the full book, and I listened along and compared it to my manuscript. I found a few errors, both in translation and to my surprise, in my manuscript! After marking them all in a separate document, I sent it to him, and he corrected them. My audiobook was then published on Dec 7 and on Dec 22 I did an audiobookblast (great promotion service!) to get some exposure and reviews. You can see the reviews on my audible page for my book, just search for Evaran. One thing I found interesting was that one review actually was put on Goodreads instead of Audible, and shows up on my eBook page there as a review. The people reviewing it seem to review all over the place, either on Audible, Goodreads, Amazon, or their own page. It's been about five weeks now, and I have sold 51 so far (though quite a few came from the audiobook blast).
> 
> Timewise it is an investment, but also a guilty pleasure to listen to your characters and story read aloud. My main character has a cadence/sound like Dr. Manhattan, and he did a great rendition of that. Another thing to note is if you link your audiobook on Amazon, they put a 4 minute and 58 second sample (an odd amount to me, why not five minutes) play link under your book on your product page. You can see an example on my first books product page. I just signed the contract for the second one, sent the pronunciation guide, and awaiting it back. Should be out mid February!


This sounds really encouraging so far! I've been going back and forth as to whether or not to produce my audibooks myself or sell the rights to a production company instead. I might just do it myself, though I don't think I'd want to make the investment until book 2 is out, perhaps even book 3 as I hear audiobooks sell better when they are a series instead of a standalone.


----------



## Adair Hart

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Learning more every day. Thank you, Adair, for sharing your experience. Please update as you have more stats.


Definitely! I am just happy there is a place to collaborate and share with my fellow authors!



Matthew Stott said:


> Thanks for the info, Adair! Certainly keen to have a go, but sounds like it's not a cost I can take on easily at the moment, if most do like an upfront fee. I'm already battering my credit card with a bunch of edit and front cover costs over the next three months..!
> Expensive business, this indie lark.





Jim Johnson said:


> Yeah, I can't quite grok the math. Looks like 100-200 per finished hour, so say a novella costs $500 to record with the flat option. It'd sell for $10-20, a price the author cannot set. Get 40% of that per sale. Not sure how many sales that would need to break even on the audiobook.


Yeah, it can get expensive. I can't remember who it was on one of the threads I read, but they had like 10k+ sunk into it. One thing I noticed is for my second book, the rate went up some. I'm guessing by Book 6, it will be over that 200 pfh mark! I believe I calculated I needed to sell 65-70 to break even, so I'm a good ways toward that now.



jazzywaltz said:


> This sounds really encouraging so far! I've been going back and forth as to whether or not to produce my audibooks myself or sell the rights to a production company instead. I might just do it myself, though I don't think I'd want to make the investment until book 2 is out, perhaps even book 3 as I hear audiobooks sell better when they are a series instead of a standalone.


Yeah, I saw some threads on that as well. That's amazing if you can make your own! The knowledge required for that is definitely outside my realm. I had planned on doing it at book 3, then a boxset maybe later in the year, but now that I'm into it, might as well go forward


----------



## jazzywaltz

I'm a newbie, so figured I'd post my own story so far if anyone's interested:

I launched my first book, Burned by Magic, on December 24, 2015, after having it on pre-order since mid October. I paid for a sponsorship in Free Kindle Giveaway specifically for Paranormal/Fantasy novels about a week after pre-order went up, which gave me a nice boost in rankings initially and helped snowball me from about 5 pre-orders a day to 63 before release day. On release day itself, I used BKnight's promo and Rebecca Hamilton's Book Blast service, and within 24 hours my book was a #1 bestseller in New Adult & College Fantasy and had hit #1 on three different hot new release lists (keep in mind it was already in the top 20 in 3 different categories before release day). It has since been holding steady in the top 500, though in the past couple days sales have been slowly downtrending. I've been getting a lot of algo-love from Amazon which I'm sure has largely attributed to my book's continuing success, and I am interested to see where I level out at on sales before I start my next promo blitz (which'll be right before book 2 comes out in early march).

During the months in which I was gearing up for launch, I worked on establishing a more active social media presence. Right now I have almost 500 Facebook likes, nearly 6000 Twitter followers, and nearly 1000 newsletter subscribers (around 800 of which can be attributed to the FKG sponsorship I paid for). Despite all this, I largely believe that the way my Amazon page itself is set-up has been a huge factor as to my book's sellability, from the book cover to the blurb to my reviews and so on. I've been able to attribute some sales from Twitter and Facebook, and I advertised a promotion via my mailing list and a FB ad that did pretty well during pre-order phase, but other than that I think it's been a combination of luck and well-timed advertising early on.


----------



## jazzywaltz

Adair Hart said:


> Yeah, I saw some threads on that as well. That's amazing if you can make your own! The knowledge required for that is definitely outside my realm. I had planned on doing it at book 3, then a boxset maybe later in the year, but now that I'm into it, might as well go forward


Oh, well I meant going through ACX... I'm not confident enough about narrating and producing my own audiobooks, LOL. I wish!


----------



## Adair Hart

jazzywaltz said:


> I'm a newbie, so figured I'd post my own story so far if anyone's interested:
> 
> I launched my first book, Burned by Magic, on December 24, 2015, after having it on pre-order since mid October. I paid for a sponsorship in Free Kindle Giveaway specifically for Paranormal/Fantasy novels about a week after pre-order went up, which gave me a nice boost in rankings initially and helped snowball me from about 5 pre-orders a day to 63 before release day. On release day itself, I used BKnight's promo and Rebecca Hamilton's Book Blast service, and within 24 hours my book was a #1 bestseller in New Adult & College Fantasy and had hit #1 on three different hot new release lists (keep in mind it was already in the top 20 in 3 different categories before release day). It has since been holding steady in the top 500, though in the past couple days sales have been slowly downtrending. I've been getting a lot of algo-love from Amazon which I'm sure has largely attributed to my book's continuing success, and I am interested to see where I level out at on sales before I start my next promo blitz (which'll be right before book 2 comes out in early march).
> 
> During the months in which I was gearing up for launch, I worked on establishing a more active social media presence. Right now I have almost 500 Facebook likes, nearly 6000 Twitter followers, and nearly 1000 newsletter subscribers (around 800 of which can be attributed to the FKG sponsorship I paid for). Despite all this, I largely believe that the way my Amazon page itself is set-up has been a huge factor as to my book's sellability, from the book cover to the blurb to my reviews and so on. I've been able to attribute some sales from Twitter and Facebook, and I advertised a promotion via my mailing list and a FB ad that did pretty well during pre-order phase, but other than that I think it's been a combination of luck and well-timed advertising early on.


That's awesome Jazzy! 40 reviews and sitting at #427 paid as of this post it looks like. I suspect you will knock it out of the park in audio as well when you do it!


----------



## LCarter

jazzywaltz said:


> I'm a newbie, so figured I'd post my own story so far if anyone's interested:
> 
> I launched my first book, Burned by Magic, on December 24, 2015, after having it on pre-order since mid October. I paid for a sponsorship in Free Kindle Giveaway specifically for Paranormal/Fantasy novels about a week after pre-order went up, which gave me a nice boost in rankings initially and helped snowball me from about 5 pre-orders a day to 63 before release day. On release day itself, I used BKnight's promo and Rebecca Hamilton's Book Blast service, and within 24 hours my book was a #1 bestseller in New Adult & College Fantasy and had hit #1 on three different hot new release lists (keep in mind it was already in the top 20 in 3 different categories before release day). It has since been holding steady in the top 500, though in the past couple days sales have been slowly downtrending. I've been getting a lot of algo-love from Amazon which I'm sure has largely attributed to my book's continuing success, and I am interested to see where I level out at on sales before I start my next promo blitz (which'll be right before book 2 comes out in early march).
> 
> During the months in which I was gearing up for launch, I worked on establishing a more active social media presence. Right now I have almost 500 Facebook likes, nearly 6000 Twitter followers, and nearly 1000 newsletter subscribers (around 800 of which can be attributed to the FKG sponsorship I paid for). Despite all this, I largely believe that the way my Amazon page itself is set-up has been a huge factor as to my book's sellability, from the book cover to the blurb to my reviews and so on. I've been able to attribute some sales from Twitter and Facebook, and I advertised a promotion via my mailing list and a FB ad that did pretty well during pre-order phase, but other than that I think it's been a combination of luck and well-timed advertising early on.


Spectacular results! I'm curious about getting into the social media game. How did you get going, when you first started your pen name? Do you think most of your starting Facebook likes came mainly from the FKG sponsorship? Good luck to you--I hope your book stays high in the rankings!


----------



## jazzywaltz

LCarter said:


> Spectacular results! I'm curious about getting into the social media game. How did you get going, when you first started your pen name? Do you think most of your starting Facebook likes came mainly from the FKG sponsorship? Good luck to you--I hope your book stays high in the rankings!


Thanks! The first 200 or so definitely came from the FKG sponsorship, but after that it was a combination of running giveaways on the page (and alerting my newfound mailing list to them) and fans finding me after releasing my book. For Twitter I'm basically playing the follow game. I don't use much outside Twitter, FB and my mailing list because it's just too time-consuming for me. I do blog occasionally and that's linked to my Amazon page so anyone following me there can get updates too.


----------



## jazzywaltz

Adair Hart said:


> That's awesome Jazzy! 40 reviews and sitting at #427 paid as of this post it looks like. I suspect you will knock it out of the park in audio as well when you do it!


We'll see! I've no idea how to promote audio but I'm hoping I'll see some spillover from my other advertising effors.


----------



## JDME

jazzywaltz said:


> Thanks! The first 200 or so definitely came from the FKG sponsorship, but after that it was a combination of running giveaways on the page (and alerting my newfound mailing list to them) and fans finding me after releasing my book. For Twitter I'm basically playing the follow game. I don't use much outside Twitter, FB and my mailing list because it's just too time-consuming for me. I do blog occasionally and that's linked to my Amazon page so anyone following me there can get updates too.


Thanks for that insight and answering the question above you was asked. Social media is where I lack right now. Debating if its better to have generic likes that come directly from my book/author pages or to run a paid ad on FB.

Also a question for anyone that is open to answer for me. Is it better to direct your FB ads to your FB page and then have a post for them to get a free book or having the FB ads go to a author/landing page? Does one have a typically better ending result or varies and depends on genre/niche.

Thanks.


----------



## Matthew Stott

I actually had a reader email me yesterday, asking when the third book in my Tales From Between series was out because they couldn't find it. First time that's happened! Felt kinda nice.


----------



## Taitrina

I got my first ever review yesterday. It was on goodreads and it was positive! I sort of feel like that's a milestone I can check off, first ever review you know  They said they would read book two when it was out and that simultaneously made me ecstatic and terrified. I thought I'd have book two with my editor by the end of the month but after feedback I'm having to completely redraft the second half.

That's going to result in a delay, which is ok because I haven't promised any dates but not ok because earlier is better. Ah well hopefully it will result in a much better book and that's the main thing.

In regards to social media my biggest problem with it, is not knowing what to say. That kinda doesn't matter at the moment as I have one friend following my facebook and twitter and that's it. Unless, people aren't following me because the accounts aren't that active. I don't want to spam, I don't want to just post announcements and marketing as that's boring. However, I've always fallen down onto the side of "don't know what to say, then say nothing" which means hopefully I don't say anything stupid, but it also makes me relatively quiet. Any suggestions?


----------



## JalexM

My Kindle Scout campaign is finally up!
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TXFKSGDHW970


----------



## JTriptych

JalexM said:


> My Kindle Scout campaign is finally up!
> https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TXFKSGDHW970


Nominated! Love that cover.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

JalexM said:


> My Kindle Scout campaign is finally up!
> https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TXFKSGDHW970


Nominated you


----------



## jazzywaltz

JDME said:


> Thanks for that insight and answering the question above you was asked. Social media is where I lack right now. Debating if its better to have generic likes that come directly from my book/author pages or to run a paid ad on FB.
> 
> Also a question for anyone that is open to answer for me. Is it better to direct your FB ads to your FB page and then have a post for them to get a free book or having the FB ads go to a author/landing page? Does one have a typically better ending result or varies and depends on genre/niche.
> 
> Thanks.


If the ad is to promote your book I would always link the ad directly to your book's Amazon page, or your author page (unless your book is widely available, in which case you can direct them to B&N or wherever you want sales to go to).


----------



## JalexM

Lukeofkondor said:


> Nominated you





JTriptych said:


> Nominated! Love that cover.


Thanks!


----------



## writerbee

JalexM said:


> My Kindle Scout campaign is finally up!
> https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TXFKSGDHW970


Nominated -- good luck! Be sure to report back on your Scout experience ;-D


----------



## Matthew Stott

Nominated; good luck with it.


----------



## Adair Hart

JalexM said:


> My Kindle Scout campaign is finally up!
> https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TXFKSGDHW970


Nominated! Let us know how it goes!


----------



## JalexM

Matthew Stott said:


> Nominated; good luck with it.





Adair Hart said:


> Nominated! Let us know how it goes!





writerbee said:


> Nominated -- good luck! Be sure to report back on your Scout experience ;-D


Thanks all! The real reason i'm doing this is because I need $1500 and not for any other reason.


----------



## JalexM

Adair Hart said:


> Nominated! Let us know how it goes!


Also good seeing your audiobooks are working well for you. 
I have to do some major saving before I could do an audiobook but now i'm thinking of turning my first book into a graphic novel first. Which I already have people asking for an audiobook of my first book but I think having a graphic novel would work well with the series. I figured they would cost about the same. Around 4-5 grand to make.


----------



## AndrewSeiple

Nominated. Looks good!


----------



## Guest

JalexM said:


> My Kindle Scout campaign is finally up!
> https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TXFKSGDHW970


Nominated!


----------



## Dominique Mondesir

Nominated!

Like what I read, so far.


----------



## jazzywaltz

JalexM said:


> My Kindle Scout campaign is finally up!
> https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TXFKSGDHW970


Nominated!


----------



## JTriptych

OK since I still had my free days available for my debut book THE OPENER (its on Select) I decided to make it FREE until Jan 18th and now its up to #791 overall on the Free Kindle Store and #3 on the top 100 free books for International Mystery and Crime. Woohoo!  

Making your book free doesnt make you money but it gives newbie shrimp eggs like me much needed exposure and perhaps more mailing list signups!


----------



## Dominique Mondesir

Taitrina

I am in that same predicament myself, I don't normally do social media. So I am kinda at a lost, of what to say sometimes. But I guess that gets better with time.


----------



## Adair Hart

JalexM said:


> Also good seeing your audiobooks are working well for you.
> I have to do some major saving before I could do an audiobook but now i'm thinking of turning my first book into a graphic novel first. Which I already have people asking for an audiobook of my first book but I think having a graphic novel would work well with the series. I figured they would cost about the same. Around 4-5 grand to make.


Awesome man. I am thinking I will do at least one graphic novel myself in my setting with different characters at some point, but yeah, it ain't cheap.


----------



## Jeff Hughes

JalexM said:


> My Kindle Scout campaign is finally up!
> https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TXFKSGDHW970


Nominated, Jalex. Good luck!


----------



## benjclark

Taitrina said:


> However, I've always fallen down onto the side of "don't know what to say, then say nothing" which means hopefully I don't say anything stupid, but it also makes me relatively quiet. Any suggestions?


Congrats on the review! That is a milestone.

On twitter, I find talking about what I'm reading to be an easy in with folks, esp. other writers who write in my genre. How many people are _you_ following on Twitter that you only have 1 follower? Someone somewhere once said something about how to be successful on Twitter you must have more followers than people you follow. That's just goofy. Twitter allows you follow 5000 accounts. You can't follow more than 1000/day. Max it out. Follow more people and more people follow you.

Start with authors in your genre. When new people follow that author, depending on the platform they're on, they'll get a Suggested Follow or few recommendations from Twitter. These are the Also Boughts of Twitter, and work much the same way. X% follow this account and this account (even better if you're on a list together).

Once you start to get more followers, they let you follow more people. For the past month or so, I've been more proactive about my following list, and have tried to be more active with authors, writing related hashtags, and my local community, and I've seen a nice jump in followers this month. I haven't published anything this month, have done no marketing, just being active. Will it help in the long run? Dunno. I doubt it'll lead to direct sales but it could lead to great blurbs, reviews, and attention on what I'm doing. That can't hurt.


----------



## JalexM

Jolie du Pre said:


> Nominated!





Dominique Mondesir said:


> Nominated!
> 
> Like what I read, so far.





jazzywaltz said:


> Nominated!





Jeff Hughes said:


> Nominated, Jalex. Good luck!





AndrewSeiple said:


> Nominated. Looks good!


Thanks all!


Adair Hart said:


> Awesome man. I am thinking I will do at least one graphic novel myself in my setting with different characters at some point, but yeah, it ain't cheap.


Yeah. The hardest part is figuring where to start with it. There are many articles and info about turning a novel into an audiobook. But not much about turning it into a graphic novel.


----------



## Elliott Webber

I just launched my second book and thought I'd run a two-day free promo (18th & 19th) on the first one (Echoes) since sales and reads have pretty much dried up after hitting the 30 day cliff. 

Grab it if you feel like it might interest you.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ah; book three of my Tales From Between series is off with the editor, which means it'll be out and about in a few weeks time. I'm going to do a little collection of the three after that, and then probably close it off and concentrate on my other projects.

Snazzy cover, yes?


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Matthew Stott said:


> Ah; book three of my Tales From Between series is off with the editor, which means it'll be out and about in a few weeks time. I'm going to do a little collection of the three after that, and then probably close it off and concentrate on my other projects.
> 
> Snazzy cover, yes?


Love the cover and the theme!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Love the cover and the theme!


Thanks! I think it's my favourite of the three covers in that series. The designer did an amazing job.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Gah! So I was working on the second draft of my next book, the longest thing I've worked on so far at pushing 90,000 words. I'd decided to turn it into a serial and was trucking along, but something was niggling at the back of my mind and finally stopped me moving forward yesterday. I want to establish myself as a sort of scarier Neil Gaiman; so spooky/scary fantasy. But this new book was basically post-apoc sci-fi. It didn't feel right, even if that is a great genre to tackle if you're looking for sales.

I have my edit for this work booked in already for March, but am now rethinking the whole thing. As I say, post-apoc seems a smart genre to try and hit, but it's pulling me away from the 'author brand' I want to establish. So bye-bye book that I spent ages writing. On the up-side, I can yank a chunk out of the book and develop it into the more fantastical area I feel is right for me.

I didn't want to bump my edit date, so I'm glad I realised all this with two months out still...!

Perhaps the post-apoc book would have pulled in more people quicker than my spooky fantasy (almost certainly), but I think it's right to go with your gut and work on what feels right for you and your voice. That's what I'll tell myself in a year when I'm still bashing away at my spooky fantasy and only shifting a book a day.  

Then again, I suppose I could put out the Post-Apoc as under a pen name...
OH BALLS.


----------



## jazzywaltz

Matthew Stott said:


> Gah! So I was working on the second draft of my next book, the longest thing I've worked on so far at pushing 90,000 words. I'd decided to turn it into a serial and was trucking along, but something was niggling at the back of my mind and finally stopped me moving forward yesterday. I want to establish myself as a sort of scarier Neil Gaiman; so spooky/scary fantasy. But this new book was basically post-apoc sci-fi. It didn't feel right, even if that is a great genre to tackle if you're looking for sales.
> 
> I have my edit for this work booked in already for March, but am now rethinking the whole thing. As I say, post-apoc seems a smart genre to try and hit, but it's pulling me away from the 'author brand' I want to establish. So bye-bye book that I spent ages writing. On the up-side, I can yank a chunk out of the book and develop it into the more fantastical area I feel is right for me.
> 
> I didn't want to bump my edit date, so I'm glad I realised all this with two months out still...!
> 
> Perhaps the post-apoc book would have pulled in more people quicker than my spooky fantasy (almost certainly), but I think it's right to go with your gut and work on what feels right for you and your voice. That's what I'll tell myself in a year when I'm still bashing away at my spooky fantasy and only shifting a book a day.
> 
> Then again, I suppose I could put out the Post-Apoc as under a pen name...
> OH BALLS.


I don't necessarily see why you have to limit yourself to one genre. There are plenty of multi-genre writers out there. You could go ahead and publish this under a pen name, or even under your own name. Of course post-apolcalytpic sci fi and spooky fantasy are NOT the same genres and have different readerships, but whether or not you put this out under your current name or a different one depends on whether or not you intend on writing more books in the same genre. If you think that this book might end up being successful and you want to ride that bandwagon by writing more of the same kind under the one pen name while continuing to write fantasy under another, then by all means. But if you think this is the only post-apoc sci-fi you're going to write, you might as well just publish it under your own name. It's not going to help the sales of your current books, but I really don't think it will HURT them either.


----------



## spellscribe

I'd read both those genres, and I think you'd find enough audience crossover to make it worth it. To me, brand is more about style, flow and voice than a rigid genre. 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Jeff Hughes

Matthew Stott said:


> So bye-bye book that I spent ages writing.
> 
> OH BALLS.


Balls, indeed! (shakes head at the notion of tossing months of work). Shades of GRRM!

Does this mean we won't get to see that cool new cover for awhile?

I agree with the others that there's no compelling need to remain wedded to a specific genre. But I also think you need to trust your author's instincts. Go with what your gut tells you.

Best wishes with it...


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## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

I agree with Amy about genre. Experiment! I think only if you were bought up by a publisher that wanted to lock you in to a particular genre for niche sales would you need to limit to the one (and even then could do a pen name elsewhere). I do kind of like that Ellis Peters is also Edith Pargeter with different kinds of books.


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## Matthew Stott

Thanks for the replies! I think it's not just that it's a different genre, but I feel that lack of extra spooky fantasy sauce and it makes it feel less 'me'. As I think about it more though, I realise there's a lot of the novel I can salvage, and with a new twist I can add that sauce. Which is lucky. I'm already more excited about the stories possibilities, which tells me I'm doing the right thing. So rather than sci-fi/post-apoc, it'll be fantasy/post-apoc, which sits better with me, and might still pull in all those hungry post-apoc fans.

I seem to often make a big shift around the second or third draft; seems that's just part of my process.


----------



## Steve Boseley

Really interesting thread, with loads of great ideas! I'm hoping to launch my first book later this year, and i'm proposing to post my progress as i go - a laid bare approach, if you like, reflecting on what worked and what didn't. Any input greatly received: http://bit.ly/1PeTS3a


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## Adair Hart

Matthew Stott said:


> Ah; book three of my Tales From Between series is off with the editor, which means it'll be out and about in a few weeks time. I'm going to do a little collection of the three after that, and then probably close it off and concentrate on my other projects.
> 
> Snazzy cover, yes?


Definitely snazzy! The title is easy to read and I love the color theme thing you got going for your branding.


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> Gah! So I was working on the second draft of my next book, the longest thing I've worked on so far at pushing 90,000 words. I'd decided to turn it into a serial and was trucking along, but something was niggling at the back of my mind and finally stopped me moving forward yesterday. I want to establish myself as a sort of scarier Neil Gaiman; so spooky/scary fantasy. But this new book was basically post-apoc sci-fi. It didn't feel right, even if that is a great genre to tackle if you're looking for sales.
> 
> I have my edit for this work booked in already for March, but am now rethinking the whole thing. As I say, post-apoc seems a smart genre to try and hit, but it's pulling me away from the 'author brand' I want to establish. So bye-bye book that I spent ages writing. On the up-side, I can yank a chunk out of the book and develop it into the more fantastical area I feel is right for me.
> 
> I didn't want to bump my edit date, so I'm glad I realised all this with two months out still...!
> 
> Perhaps the post-apoc book would have pulled in more people quicker than my spooky fantasy (almost certainly), but I think it's right to go with your gut and work on what feels right for you and your voice. That's what I'll tell myself in a year when I'm still bashing away at my spooky fantasy and only shifting a book a day.
> 
> Then again, I suppose I could put out the Post-Apoc as under a pen name...
> OH BALLS.


YES. You can write the post-apoc under a pen name. NEVER feel like you HAVE to stick with only one genre or only one pen name.

I'm publishing only two more books under Jolie du Pre. One is the last book I'm publishing in the Pierce series. That book will be published on Monday. The other is a multi-author box set that will be published February 8. Unless my vampire books pick up sales, I'm done with them.

~~~

I've started a new pen name, under a popular genre (I'm keeping all of it a secret), and yesterday I submitted the first book under my new pen name and genre to my editor. That first book will be published on Monday.


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## Matthew Stott

Jolie du Pre said:


> YES. You can write the post-apoc under a pen name. NEVER feel like you HAVE to stick with only one genre or only one pen name.
> 
> I'm publishing only two more books under Jolie du Pre. One is the last book I'm publishing in the Pierce series. That book will be published on Monday. The other is a multi-author box set that will be published February 8. Unless my vampire books pick up sales, I'm done with them.


Yeah, I don't think I'm up for a pen name at the moment. Perhaps in future if I decide I want to do something far out of my usual, but at the moment I like it being under my name, and building that one name.

I'm actually glad I had a rethink, because the twist I've put on this Post-apoc thingy is really doing it for me now.


----------



## Matthew Stott

A new 2 star review on one of my books: "Not happy with my protector. It doesn't not stay on properly and I am not using it." I think (I THINK) they might (MIGHT) have left that on the wrong thing...!


----------



## Cherise

Matthew Stott said:


> A new 2 start review on one of my books: "Not happy with my protector. It doesn't not stay on properly and I am not using it." I think (I THINK) they might (MIGHT) have left that on the wrong thing...!


LOL! I think you're right!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Matthew Stott said:


> A new 2 start review on one of my books: "Not happy with my protector. It doesn't not stay on properly and I am not using it." I think (I THINK) they might (MIGHT) have left that on the wrong thing...!


Makes you wonder! ;-)

Well, despite an awesome campaign on Kindle Scout (almost 2400 views, Hot and Trending 96% of the time) with a book several said was one of the best they'd seen in the running, ROSETTE was not chosen for publication. Alas.

But not to fear--I've got it out on Kindle through my own Moraine's Edge Books, and I'm learning how it all works with ranking and sales and so forth. It's a quiet launch into a new world for me!


----------



## jazzywaltz

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Makes you wonder! ;-)
> 
> Well, despite an awesome campaign on Kindle Scout (almost 2400 views, Hot and Trending 96% of the time) with a book several said was one of the best they'd seen in the running, ROSETTE was not chosen for publication. Alas.
> 
> But not to fear--I've got it out on Kindle through my own Moraine's Edge Books, and I'm learning how it all works with ranking and sales and so forth. It's a quiet launch into a new world for me!


Too bad on your Kindle Scout Campaign, but good for you on self-pubbing! I hope you do well. <3


----------



## lilywhite

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Makes you wonder! ;-)
> 
> Well, despite an awesome campaign on Kindle Scout (almost 2400 views, Hot and Trending 96% of the time) with a book several said was one of the best they'd seen in the running, ROSETTE was not chosen for publication. Alas.
> 
> But not to fear--I've got it out on Kindle through my own Moraine's Edge Books, and I'm learning how it all works with ranking and sales and so forth. It's a quiet launch into a new world for me!


KUed it!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

lilywhite said:


> KUed it!


Thanks for the encouragement, Jazzy, and special thanks for nabbing it, Lily!


----------



## amdonehere

Really want your thoughts and input here.

So I'm scouring all the promo reports threads here in the recent months. For the more experienced writers, there are some talks of no good ROI for doing stack promos. I believe it is true. Ads are expensive and often promos go with free or 99 cent downloads.

That said, I thought one of the main reason for doing promos is not for the ROI, but so you can jump the Amazon ranking and get the Amazon algorithm working for you.  For some reason, I haven't heard talks about that for some time now. Is that no longer important? Has Amazon's ranking algorithm changed so promos to jump the ranking no longer helps to put your book in front of readers?

I also heard from the rumor mills that you don't have a 30 day-cliff anymore, but more like a 10-day cliff. Well, in that case my book will just have to languish in oblivion till book 2 comes out. It took a couple of days for the tech stuff to work out. Then my ACRs needed a few days to come in. And promo sites won't even accept you til you have minimum 5 ACRs. So how can this magical 10 day happen. Forget about it.

Can anyone clarify what are the myths and what are the truths? I'm planning a weeklong Valentine's Day stacked promo. This is my first release and my goal is not ROI, but to get my book out there. Reading the oldbies' talks about ROI and book promos being not worth it or those sites do nothing, all are quite depressing, because you're left with, what else are you supposed to do?

Any thoughts?


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

AlexaKang said:


> Really want your thoughts and input here.
> . . .
> 
> Can anyone clarify . . . what else are you supposed to do?
> 
> Any thoughts?


Alexa, these are great questions, and I'm interested to see the answers! I don't know if the folks really in the know will see the question here--I wonder if it's worth starting a new thread for it. But I'm all eyes looking for responses, after just two days "out there" published. 

After my Kindle Scout campaign (great stats but turned down despite what many have told me is a great book), I've used up the potency of my native social media marketing and have to be careful not to annoy my people (500 friends on FB, a handful of followers on Twitter who are mostly from FB, and a hundred on my mailing list) while still getting them the info they need. Because I'm working on an illustrated version of my novel for print, and because I wanted to generate at least a trickle of royalties right away, as well as make use of the boost from Kindle Scout connections, I released quietly on Saturday afternoon, letting my FB folks know (and watching many of them share with their friends on FB). I had put out a call a day or two before for reviewers with ARCs, and I got a handful of takers for that, but they need a bit of time to read the thing. I already have some very nice editorial reviews.

Last night I sent notice to my mailing list (about half of whom are my friends on FB) and am watching my rankings. Later today I will hit the button to have Amazon tell all those who nominated ROSETTE that it is now for sale (for $2.99), and later this week I will do my one-time promos for ALLi and the Historical Novel Society FB page. In Kindle Scout I learned to watch daily statistics and gauge the effect of different marketing efforts, so I'm just continuing that strategy, though all I have at the moment is my ranking to go by.

So as you can tell, I'm definitely a newbie, learning the ropes.  I do know that the kind of book I am selling needs a particular kind of marketing. It's not going to fit a "blast" email full of torrid romance or a YA paranormal sci-fi horror thriller demographic. My book needs word of mouth, features on like-minded blogs, and personal connections. That's my strategy.


----------



## R.U. Writing

AlexaKang said:


> Really want your thoughts and input here.
> 
> So I'm scouring all the promo reports threads here in the recent months. For the more experienced writers, there are some talks of no good ROI for doing stack promos. I believe it is true. Ads are expensive and often promos go with free or 99 cent downloads.
> 
> That said, I thought one of the main reason for doing promos is not for the ROI, but so you can jump the Amazon ranking and get the Amazon algorithm working for you. For some reason, I haven't heard talks about that for some time now. Is that no longer important? Has Amazon's ranking algorithm changed so promos to jump the ranking no longer helps to put your book in front of readers?
> 
> I also heard from the rumor mills that you don't have a 30 day-cliff anymore, but more like a 10-day cliff. Well, in that case my book will just have to languish in oblivion till book 2 comes out. It took a couple of days for the tech stuff to work out. Then my ACRs needed a few days to come in. And promo sites won't even accept you til you have minimum 5 ACRs. So how can this magical 10 day happen. Forget about it.
> 
> Can anyone clarify what are the myths and what are the truths? I'm planning a weeklong Valentine's Day stacked promo. This is my first release and my goal is not ROI, but to get my book out there. Reading the oldbies' talks about ROI and book promos being not worth it or those sites do nothing, all are quite depressing, because you're left with, what else are you supposed to do?
> 
> Any thoughts?


When I ran my first (and only so far) big promo back in September (a stacked promo), I had a lot of the same concerns. I was afraid it wouldn't make its money back and wasn't sure what the point was. My book, prior to the promo, had been out for a month and was getting zero sales except for the occasional friend. Any new writer these days faces an incredible uphill battle when it comes to visibility.

During the promo, my book had a nice spike. It went all the way to number 35 in horror (that's the big horror, not a sub category). Sat right next to Stephen King. Was pretty sweet. That said, I was still questioning the value of the promotion. If the book spikes and then falls back into obscurity, then what is the point? If you don't break even when doing so, then aren't the only ones making out well the promoters and Amazon?

Thankfully, the tail made it all worthwhile. The most important thing you can do with a promo is populate the Also Boughts. I don't know what number of sales it takes to do this, but the Also Boughts will give the book a life beyond the promo, both in KU and in sales. I'm happy to say that six months after that first promo, I still have activity on the book. Now, I'm not claiming any great successes--especially since I haven't done any marketing whatsoever since September (been spending all of my time on the next book), but the promo definitely made a return in the long run and it gave the book a life it wouldn't have had otherwise.

I would say not to worry about 30 day cliffs (or 10 day cliffs or whatever) unless you are releasing frequently and want to stay on the hot new release list for extra visibility. With a new book you would have to run some kind of promo (or have a giant mailing list) to hit one of those lists anyway. Hope that helps!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Thanks for sharing your experience, Wilden. Every bit of data (even anecdotal) helps!


----------



## amdonehere

Thing is, there's no way to get a new book by a new author discovered without the promo. I put mine in KU and that's supposed to help build an audience but how?

I'm planning a stacked promo but with eyes wide open that it's not about ROI. I'm just hoping my book with get some look-see by potential readers.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Hm; Amazon seem to have taken down a nice review on one of my books for some reason, but left up the two stupid ones (One that's clearly been left on the wrong thing as they're reviewing a Kindle cover, not a book..!). Thanks Amazon! That's in no way annoying.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Publishing is so much fun! Here's an umboxing video I did for the proof copies I received yesterday. 






I could get used to the feeling of a new book in hands. Must write faster.


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## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> Publishing is so much fun! Here's an umboxing video I did for the proof copies I received yesterday.


Looks fantastic, Jim!


----------



## Bbates024

I love this thread it help keeps me sane!

I just got my first one-star review on Arena today, I mean it was bound to happen at some point. I can't read it ye so I don't know what ti says.

It's one of those things that kinda twists in your gut for a bit, and then I said screw it and went back to writing. The follow up is at 80k right now and after I finish the epilogue and rewrite it's off to the editor. Most people said they would read book 2 even with a three star. Book 2 is hands down better than one so I can only hope it gets the same amount of attention.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their same moments of DARN YOU READER! LoL


----------



## spellscribe

Alexa: when I look at ROI, I don't equate $ in to $ out. I might spend 0.95c to get a customer to buy a book that nets me 0.35c (or nothing when I hit my free promo), but if that customer signs up to my mailing list, that custoner is potentially worth the profit from my entire potential series. 

My understanding us that stacked promos make it really hard to tell which one works- no point spending 20 minutes and real money for a promo that doesn't get a single sale or download. It might put eyes on my book, but if those eyes aren't clicking then that promo isn't worth my time, even if it's free. And I believe a lot of them garner zero results. 

If it's a promo site you *know* works, and you stack it with another like it, IMHO that's better.

I'd rather save the hours spent enlisting 20 promo sites for zero clicks and use that to write a short story for free release, track down quality reviewers and send ten ARCs, seek out book bloggers etc. 



Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Shanna Moncuse

I've learned it's really hard to sell a short-story if it is your first published work. Don't get me wrong, I'm so proud of it. I don't regret putting it on Amazon, but I've only sold about 30 copies in four months, so I've only made about $21. I'm very excited that I've made that money, because I made it with something I created! I just wish I could sell a little bit more.

I've also found out that family and friends won't necessarily buy your story, just because they like you. It's disappointing, because I would support them in what they do, but I can't really do anything about it. Oh, well... I'm very appreciative of the ones who have bought, and even though they're family and friends, every sale made me jump up and down!

Wow, both of those were negative. I'll think of something positive and post it whenever I come up with it. I don't mean to sound so unhappy. I'm very happy with the path I've taken and I would not change it. I will pursue writing because it is my _dream_, and no bad start will push me away!

Wait! That is the positive thing I've learned through this process! I'm having a bad start but it hasn't deterred me. If anything, it has made me want to push myself harder, to keep on working towards my goal of becoming a successful, full-time author. I won't give up! This passion burns in me, even during my struggles. _That_ is the most important lesson.


----------



## Maestro

I haven't been able to read more than a few pages in this long thread but whatever I have absorbed makes for enough material for training a complete newbie to Kindle publishing. It has more tips than some of the courses that I have seen floating around.


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## Matthew Stott

Gosh, I've noticed my sales have gone to crap this week; which is not altogether surprising; no new release in two months, and I've done no advertising since the first few days of December. So bound to happen, I suppose. I've been holding off pushing too much until my third in the series is out (which it will be in a few weeks) then I intend to really push the series, and see what 'new' things I can do to get visibility. My next series won't start publishing until the start of May, so I'll be using my Between series as a guinea pig up until then to see what works.

Even knowing this would happen, and almost being ready to start tooting the series horn loudly, it kinda sucks to see no sales! 

One thing I hope to do is start using Genre Reader as a hub for promos. It's one of the reasons I wanted to start it in the first place.


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> Publishing is so much fun! Here's an umboxing video I did for the proof copies I received yesterday.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I could get used to the feeling of a new book in hands. Must write faster.


Awesome Jim! Love the illustrations. As someone who has dabbled in digital cartography, it was cool to see you had a map in your book!



Wilden Turk said:


> Thankfully, the tail made it all worthwhile. The most important thing you can do with a promo is populate the Also Boughts. I don't know what number of sales it takes to do this, but the Also Boughts will give the book a life beyond the promo, both in KU and in sales. I'm happy to say that six months after that first promo, I still have activity on the book. Now, I'm not claiming any great successes--especially since I haven't done any marketing whatsoever since September (been spending all of my time on the next book), but the promo definitely made a return in the long run and it gave the book a life it wouldn't have had otherwise.
> 
> I would say not to worry about 30 day cliffs (or 10 day cliffs or whatever) unless you are releasing frequently and want to stay on the hot new release list for extra visibility. With a new book you would have to run some kind of promo (or have a giant mailing list) to hit one of those lists anyway. Hope that helps!


Similar experience with my first book. I think looking back, I might have published book 1 and 2 at the same time and did a stacked promo 30 days after. That way instead of having advertised twice with an advertiser in the span of 3-4 months like where I am now, it would only have been once. Then again, knowing what I know now, I would probably have done several things differently. Hindsight.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Wow, Jim, this was so timely for me! I just published my Kindle version last weekend and am working with my daughter (cover artist) on 24 illustrations for the chapters (to accompany brief journal entries). Your video gives us a lot of material to discuss for our version. THANK YOU! 

And it does look great--you create and sustain an atmosphere throughout.


----------



## Guest

Been a crazy busy month for me. I finally finished the redo of Aisuru's new print cover (digital on in my signature). I kept the cover image I'd been using awhile, but for both the print and digital I (hopefully) improved the front choices and I made my name more consistent with Deviations cover. For Aisuru's print version, I also redid the back, added a blurb, and tried adding an author blurb. (ignore the white line on the right, I forgot to trim the image before I posted it )










I also finished the interior redo and I'm so excited about it! I certainly feel like I upped my game and gave it a much more professional look, even though the first one looked "fine". Finally got it all perfect (I hope) and have the new physical proof on the way. Hoping once it arrives it will be a quick approve so I can get the paperback back on sale.

Meanwhile, Deviations should be back from my editor today and I've already got it's interior formatting decided so just a matter of implementing after reviewing the edits. At this point I'm leaning towards February 28th as its launch date! I need to write out the timeline on my whiteboard so I can look at setting it up for preorders. It will be nice having two titles out and I'm particularly proud of Deviations so yay future readers! :-D

Hopefully with all of that out of the way, I can turn my attention to starting revising Girl in the Forest, yeah!



Jim Johnson said:


> Publishing is so much fun! Here's an umboxing video I did for the proof copies I received yesterday.


Your book design is gorgeous! Love the spreads, the map, and the illustrations. Very nice touches! I also love the book page in the back, great way to show the rest of the series!


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## Jim Johnson

Adair Hart said:


> Awesome Jim! Love the illustrations. As someone who has dabbled in digital cartography, it was cool to see you had a map in your book!


I'm an avid reader of epic fantasy, and pretty much every epic fantasy I've ever read had a map in the print version, so I felt I just had to include one in my books. I'm hesitant to add it to the ebook, since I don't want to mess with the download size and cost, but for the print version, I figured why not? Glad you like it!



Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Wow, Jim, this was so timely for me! I just published my Kindle version last weekend and am working with my daughter (cover artist) on 24 illustrations for the chapters (to accompany brief journal entries). Your video gives us a lot of material to discuss for our version. THANK YOU!
> 
> And it does look great--you create and sustain an atmosphere throughout.


Thanks! I wasn't sure how the illos would look without a full-page bleed, but I think with the border and the text call-out below they came out pretty nice. Feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions. Your book and illustrations sounds fun!



Anma Natsu said:


> Your book design is gorgeous! Love the spreads, the map, and the illustrations. Very nice touches! I also love the book page in the back, great way to show the rest of the series!


Thanks, my interior designer threw that together at the last minute and when I saw it I kicked myself for not having the idea earlier. I'll be using a modified version of it for Facebook ads.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Huh, I guess I'm seeing evidence of these 'cliffs', then. Haven't promoted or released anything since Dec 1, and almost to the day, sales and page reads flatline. Page reads is especially odd, had some of my highest days (and I always get at least a few hundred per day) then suddenly, zero for the last four days.

Seems like I just fell off one of those cliffs Kboarders quake about...!


----------



## Jim Johnson

I've seen the cliff and I think I've gone over as well. Episode 1 is bopping along at a couple sales/various pages read per week, and I'm seeing next to zero sell-through on episodes 2 and 3.  I'm sure there are a variety of reasons, but I'm still writing onward anyway. Working on a new UF series I'll release in the summer and closing in on finishing the rewrite of episode 4.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Jim Johnson said:


> I've seen the cliff and I think I've gone over as well. Episode 1 is bopping along at a couple sales/various pages read per week, and I'm seeing next to zero sell-through on episodes 2 and 3. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons, but I'm still writing onward anyway. Working on a new UF series I'll release in the summer and closing in on finishing the rewrite of episode 4.


Yup; seems these cliffs are very real. My books were bubbling along fine on their own until the two month mark ticked past. Good news for me is that my hands off approach ends within a few weeks, when I publish the third book in my series and start promoting properly. 
Oh, to get to the point where the cliffs have little effect.


----------



## Lukeofkondor

Yep. 30 days after launch, the Hipster sales have plummeted. Can't wait to get the second book out now.


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## Matthew Stott

Lukeofkondor said:


> Yep. 30 days after launch, the Hipster sales have plummeted. Can't wait to get the second book out now.


Yeah, this is why it's important to try and build visibility, and other things, so that the cliffs hitting you have less affect.


----------



## Jim Johnson

Matthew Stott said:


> Yeah, this is why it's important to try and build visibility, and other things, so that the cliffs hitting you have less affect.


And I suspect, by and large, that building visibility means more books available in a variety of genres.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Anma, your book is lovely!


----------



## Maia Sepp Ross

Anma Natsu said:


> Been a crazy busy month for me. I finally finished the redo of Aisuru's new print cover (digital on in my signature). I kept the cover image I'd been using awhile, but for both the print and digital I (hopefully) improved the front choices and I made my name more consistent with Deviations cover. For Aisuru's print version, I also redid the back, added a blurb, and tried adding an author blurb. (ignore the white line on the right, I forgot to trim the image before I posted it )


I really like that cover!


----------



## spellscribe

Anma that's so pretty! Great blurb too 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## N. D. Iverson

There's a lot of great info in here for newbies! This should be pinned at the top of the thread  as a "start here" point for us freshmen. 

I noticed a lot of people mention that sales taper off after the one month mark. Is this typical?


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Sales for my books dropped off significantly too, over the past week or so.

That's why I'm doing a sale & promos this week. Dropped the price to 0.99 and rolled out a Bargainbooksy ad today.

I've got ReadCheaply, MyBookCave, BookLoversHeaven, and ManyBooks for the rest of the week. Let's hope the extra sales happen and push _The Deep Link_ up again a bit.


----------



## Jeff Hughes

Shanna Moncuse said:


> I've learned it's really hard to sell a short-story if it is your first published work. Don't get me wrong, I'm so proud of it. I don't regret putting it on Amazon, but I've only sold about 30 copies in four months, so I've only made about $21. I'm very excited that I've made that money, because I made it with something I created! I just wish I could sell a little bit more.
> 
> I've also found out that family and friends won't necessarily buy your story, just because they like you. It's disappointing, because I would support them in what they do, but I can't really do anything about it. Oh, well... I'm very appreciative of the ones who have bought, and even though they're family and friends, every sale made me jump up and down!
> 
> Wow, both of those were negative. I'll think of something positive and post it whenever I come up with it. I don't mean to sound so unhappy. I'm very happy with the path I've taken and I would not change it. I will pursue writing because it is my _dream_, and no bad start will push me away!
> 
> Wait! That is the positive thing I've learned through this process! I'm having a bad start but it hasn't deterred me. If anything, it has made me want to push myself harder, to keep on working towards my goal of becoming a successful, full-time author. I won't give up! This passion burns in me, even during my struggles. _That_ is the most important lesson.


Well, with 19 reviews - excellent reviews, no less - out of those 30 sales, you're doing something right, Shanna! Congrats on the publication and the initial success. Here's to all those dreams of yours come to life!


----------



## Matthew Stott

N. D. Iverson said:


> There's a lot of great info in here for newbies! This should be pinned at the top of the thread  as a "start here" point for us freshmen.
> 
> I noticed a lot of people mention that sales taper off after the one month mark. Is this typical?


It does seem likely to happen to a degree. There are Amazon 'cliffs' that, once you go over, your books aren't as visible. So that can obviously lead to a drop in sales.


----------



## Jim Johnson

N. D. Iverson said:


> There's a lot of great info in here for newbies! This should be pinned at the top of the thread  as a "start here" point for us freshmen.
> 
> I noticed a lot of people mention that sales taper off after the one month mark. Is this typical?


Depends entirely on the book. From what I've seen, a lot of books drop without significant ad pulsing or sales or the like. I've got witch hats on my sales chart, all of which I can tie to promotions. More books available should theoretically flatten things out some. Onward.


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## Matthew Stott

How many of you, even at this newbie stage, offer signed copies of a paperback direct from your website..? Worth it?


----------



## Jim Johnson

Matthew Stott said:


> How many of you, even at this newbie stage, offer signed copies of a paperback direct from your website..? Worth it?


No reason not to. I just got my print copies for episode one, and as soon as I can set up an online store on my site, I'll offer signed copies. Not a lot of effort on my part, and I know there are readers out there who like a) print copies and b) signed print copies.

Also nice to use them as giveaways, FB ad bait, and gifts. 

EDIT: Also, it's a tiny step toward steering readers to your website as opposed to Amazon, iTunes, etc. Eventually the ideal would be that readers come to your website for books rather than a distributor. And we make more on direct sales than anywhere else.


----------



## Steve Boseley

I thought i had posted this somewhere before, but i can't see it, so apologies if this is a double post.

I'm looking to launch my first book, but i have a question: I have a Wordpress blog with a 'follow this blog' button.  I read a lot about the importance of building up an email list.  Now is the 'follow blog' what is being referred to here (when i post an update, followers see it in inbox), or is it referring to an Mail Chimp - style signup to receive a monthly newsletter email list?
Are they interchangeable?  Would you try to focus on 1 or the other (which one)? Or should i try to get people signed up to both?

The other spanner in the works, is that my author website is with Wix, but i kept the blog at Wordpress.  With Mail Chimp, i can sign people up to a mail chimp list from either site, and they go to same list.

Advice would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

MailChimp is what you need. You can create a signup page (or box) on your wordpress site. The gurus at this will have it top of the home page, with a free giveaway if possible.


----------



## Adair Hart

Jim Johnson said:


> Depends entirely on the book. From what I've seen, a lot of books drop without significant ad pulsing or sales or the like. I've got witch hats on my sales chart, all of which I can tie to promotions. More books available should theoretically flatten things out some. Onward.


I experienced the 10 day and 60 day cliff with my first book. That gut wrenching feeling after seeing 20 sales after launch, then hitting the 10 day cliff (more like 13-14 for me) with 0 sales or reads for days on end was rough. For book 2, I mitigated the 10 day cliff with a free day on book 1. It seemd to spark some life into book 2 and put it on the Hot New Releases list. When the 30 day cliff arrived, Patty's promo was kicking off, so I jumped over that cliff. I am approaching the 60 day cliff on book 2 now, but just had a big promotion a few weeks ago, so still have a tail. Running a facebook ad at 5/day seems to keep both books bouyant, but I won't be able to truly gauge it's effectiveness until this month, since I'm not running any paid promotion outside of it.

I think if you have a big mailing list, a decent sized social media footprint, a backlist, and some momentum, the cliffs aren't as steep as someone with only a book or two out, with no mailing list or social media presence. There are outliers and having a good cover, blurb, and story are also factors in that. I'd be curious to see Jazzy's experience with cliffs as she launched like a rocket!


----------



## Adair Hart

Anma Natsu said:


> Been a crazy busy month for me. I finally finished the redo of Aisuru's new print cover (digital on in my signature). I kept the cover image I'd been using awhile, but for both the print and digital I (hopefully) improved the front choices and I made my name more consistent with Deviations cover. For Aisuru's print version, I also redid the back, added a blurb, and tried adding an author blurb. (ignore the white line on the right, I forgot to trim the image before I posted it )


Looking good, Anma!


----------



## Mary Papas

I just released a new book on Amazon, a mini short fiction course about the 6 important things one has to focus on when writing short fiction. When writing short fiction , every sentence matters...not everyone knows what matters though. If interested, you can find the book on Amazon titled as ''What is Important'' by Mary Papas. You can also click on the last cover on my signature....


----------



## Guest

Matthew Stott said:


> How many of you, even at this newbie stage, offer signed copies of a paperback direct from your website..? Worth it?


I have, pretty much from the beginning.  It was one way to offer preorders on the print versions (and actually where all but 3 of my print sales came from - that preorder rush). It will be interesting to see if I see the same with Deviations preorder which will be going up this week sometime.

Selling direct doesn't have to cost much if anything to do. You can either just keep a small number of copies on hand to fill orders (I'd recommend no more than 5 unless you have lots of print buyers) or note on your sales page that it takes a few weeks and just order copies as the orders come in. Having them on hand saves you a bit of money on the per-copy cost and overall shipping to you costs, while the latter option lets you avoid spending money on them if people aren't buying.

For the actual shopping system, there are several great options that are affordable. I personally use Ecwid which you can start with for free and have up to 10 products. I upgraded to their lowest paid version later ($120 or so per year) so I could offer discount codes to my mailing list subscribers and have more products. It handles all the tax and shipping calculation and money collection and PCI stuff


----------



## Shanna Moncuse

Jeff Hughes said:


> Well, with 19 reviews - excellent reviews, no less - out of those 30 sales, you're doing something right, Shanna! Congrats on the publication and the initial success. Here's to all those dreams of yours come to life!


Thank you! I'm kind of in a rough place right now, so seeing this really brightened my day (er...night I guess, haha).


----------



## ChickenWrangler

Hi everyone,

I'm jumping into the thread. I just launched my first book on 2/1/16. It's called Emerald Emergent and the first in a series of at least four planned.








http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BBGP2TU

Book 2 is done and in the editing phase. I plan to have it out within the 90 day window.

I've been lurking this thread for a while, and it's been a huge help and inspiration. Thank you for being willing to share about your experiences! I hope to do the same.

Here's to 2016. . .


----------



## Veronica Sicoe

Congrats on your new release!


----------



## ChickenWrangler

Thanks! I've been learning all about telling myself "Don't reload the KDP Reports Page. Don't reload the KDP Reports Page. . . "

Amazon should really put advertising on the whole dashboard. They would get millions of author eyeballs.


----------



## Bbates024

Love that cover!

On a separate note, anyone know if you can challenge a review on Amazon. My 1 star finally posted and it's because the lady couldn't download the sample for some reason. She didn't even read the book...


"Tried downloading a sample "twice." Could not read a sample to see if the story was any good.
Not worth my time if I can't read the material !"

Isn't that the worst. I was worried for the last couple days that someone just truly despised the story, and it wasn't even something I had control over.


----------



## Eric T Knight

> On a separate note, anyone know if you can challenge a review on Amazon. My 1 star finally posted and it's because the lady couldn't download the sample for some reason. She didn't even read the book...


I had something similar happen with my first book. The reviewer complained that he didn't get the whole book when he downloaded it and told people not to waste their money. I contacted Amazon to see if there was some way I could resend him the book but they said no. Then I responded to his review telling him I would happily give him another copy and no answer.

I guess sometimes you just can't win.


----------



## C. Rysalis

ChickenWrangler said:


> Thanks! I've been learning all about telling myself "Don't reload the KDP Reports Page. Don't reload the KDP Reports Page. . . "
> 
> Amazon should really put advertising on the whole dashboard. They would get millions of author eyeballs.


Chicken Wrangler, I randomly checked your look inside and I must say... this is one of the best first novel openings I've seen in a long, long time. It's a bit too short for my personal taste, but if you ever do an omnibus, I'll probably buy it. Best of luck!


----------



## lilywhite

Bbates024 said:


> Love that cover!
> 
> On a separate note, anyone know if you can challenge a review on Amazon. My 1 star finally posted and it's because the lady couldn't download the sample for some reason. She didn't even read the book...
> 
> "Tried downloading a sample "twice." Could not read a sample to see if the story was any good.
> Not worth my time if I can't read the material !"
> 
> Isn't that the worst. I was worried for the last couple days that someone just truly despised the story, and it wasn't even something I had control over.


I downvoted it, for whatever that's worth. But I would say don't worry--I can tell you, as a reader, that review would only make me laugh. It clearly doesn't reflect on the book at all.


----------



## ChickenWrangler

C. Rysalis said:


> Chicken Wrangler, I randomly checked your look inside and I must say... this is one of the best first novel openings I've seen in a long, long time. It's a bit too short for my personal taste, but if you ever do an omnibus, I'll probably buy it. Best of luck!


Thank you! This story seems to want to organize itself into 30k arcs. I finished the first draft of the second novel at 70k, and in going back over it, I can see it's two distinct plot arcs, so I will most likely publish at least these three books in that size.

I've been debating if I should put "short novel" somewhere in the blurb. I don't want to disappoint reader expectations in that regard.


----------



## Taitrina

ChickenWrangler said:


> I've been debating if I should put "short novel" somewhere in the blurb. I don't want to disappoint reader expectations in that regard.


People should have an idea of length by the page numbers but you could add it to make sure. Getting a low rating for length would suck. I personally think length is immaterial if it's the right length for the story. I guess it's about managing expectations.

On a selfish note if there's any American's about could you please check out my book page - link. I'm running a countdown deal in the US and the dashboard says it's "in progress" but I can't see the price drop. It should be $0.99 for the next 7 days. I tried looking through an IP masker as google said that if I don't live in the US (I'm UK based) then it won't show. However, even pretending I live in the US didn't work. I have a promotion scheduled for tomorrow so I need to know if it's not working. I really appreciate it.

On another note, the price is showing $2.87 which is really strange. It's been fluctuating on and off since I published even though it's set at $2.99. I'm in Select so it's not like it's a price match. Weird.

Anyway, if someone could just check on my countdown deal I would seriously be grateful.


----------



## A.C. Nixon

Taitrina said:


> On a selfish note if there's any American's about could you please check out my book page - link. I'm running a countdown deal in the US and the dashboard says it's "in progress" but I can't see the price drop. It should be $0.99 for the next 7 days. I tried looking through an IP masker as google said that if I don't live in the US (I'm UK based) then it won't show. However, even pretending I live in the US didn't work. I have a promotion scheduled for tomorrow so I need to know if it's not working. I really appreciate it.
> 
> On another note, the price is showing $2.87 which is really strange. It's been fluctuating on and off since I published even though it's set at $2.99. I'm in Select so it's not like it's a price match. Oh, wait, maybe that is because of the exchange rate. If I set my standard price in pounds, then maybe everywhere else it shifts to match? Not sure.
> 
> Anyway, if someone could just check on my countdown deal I would seriously be grateful.


I just checked, and it's showing the countdown deal!


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## ChickenWrangler

Hi Taitrina, I'm seeing the countdown deal. Here's how the page looks for me:


----------



## Taitrina

ChickenWrangler said:


> Hi Taitrina, I'm seeing the countdown deal. Here's how the page looks for me:





A.C. Nixon said:


> I just checked, and it's showing the countdown deal!


You are my favourite people today  thank you so much! I wonder why the IP masker didn't show me, oh well panic over at least. I was getting worried about my promo tomorrow. Thank you again. Also ChickenWrangler an extra thank you for that picture. Being able to actually see it is very helpful, and very reassuring. Thank you so much!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ah, new book almost ready to publish in a couple of weeks, and the first draft of my next book done. Good day!


----------



## spellscribe

I'm getting so, so close! I've finished proofing and formatting (gods wasn't THAT little experience a fun one) the createspace version of my book and should have the cover art back by Monday. I'm tweaking the ebook as I type (it takes a while to load and I'm impatient) and hope to swap from 'draft' to 'final version' in about... there, it's done!

My release date is 2/25 so I'll post a short thread with numbers ad promos when that happens. I'm using FB ads, BKnights, Awesomegang and possibly Betty to promo. I was also contacted out of the blue by a UK book promo site, requesting a review copy for one of their partners. I don't know who they are, but that made me feel a bit special!

For reviews, I have about 5 people on my mailing list requesting ARCs, and a couple of write people who have beta'd, so I hope to have 10 reviews by the end of the first two weeks. Pie in the sky? Yeah, maybe  Still, I really hope it kicks off ok.


----------



## SomeoneElse

Taitrina said:


> On another note, the price is showing $2.87 which is really strange. It's been fluctuating on and off since I published even though it's set at $2.99. I'm in Select so it's not like it's a price match. Weird.
> 
> Anyway, if someone could just check on my countdown deal I would seriously be grateful.


My price is always fluctuating - I'm not sure why, but it seems all international customers see prices other than $2.99, but US customers still see $2.99.


----------



## Rebe James

LSMay said:


> My price is always fluctuating - I'm not sure why, but it seems all international customers see prices other than $2.99, but US customers still see $2.99.


I can't be sure, but I suspect the international fluctuation would have to do with exchange rates changes on any given day in any different country. Price is probably based on US$2.99, but is sold at the daily exchange rate equivalent.


----------



## Guest

Thank you for the kind remarks on Aisuru's new cover. The proof arrived today and I love it so so much!! The colors and image work particularly well with the matte I think 

Also super excited and happy to say Deviations preorder is now live!!! Have a blast schedule for social media and my newsletter in the morning, to give time for Amazon to do the update to fix my name *doh* and to put the pre-order price at $2.99 instead of its regular $4.99 price. :-D



spellscribe said:


> I'm getting so, so close! I've finished proofing and formatting (gods wasn't THAT little experience a fun one) the createspace version of my book and should have the cover art back by Monday. I'm tweaking the ebook as I type (it takes a while to load and I'm impatient) and hope to swap from 'draft' to 'final version' in about... there, it's done!
> 
> My release date is 2/25 so I'll post a short thread with numbers ad promos when that happens. I'm using FB ads, BKnights, Awesomegang and possibly Betty to promo. I was also contacted out of the blue by a UK book promo site, requesting a review copy for one of their partners. I don't know who they are, but that made me feel a bit special!
> 
> For reviews, I have about 5 people on my mailing list requesting ARCs, and a couple of write people who have beta'd, so I hope to have 10 reviews by the end of the first two weeks. Pie in the sky? Yeah, maybe  Still, I really hope it kicks off ok.


Yay!!! Go go go! :-D


----------



## SomeoneElse

Rebe James said:


> I can't be sure, but I suspect the international fluctuation would have to do with exchange rates changes on any given day in any different country. Price is probably based on US$2.99, but is sold at the daily exchange rate equivalent.


That would certainly make sense, except that my country's dollar is only worth sixty something US cents at the moment, and the price I see for a $2.99 book is $3.00. When I did buy a book at about that cost, I paid 4 or 5 dollars in my own currency. I have heard speculation that it's about delivery charges.


----------



## spellscribe

Thanks Anma  

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Bbates024

Matthew Stott said:


> Ah, new book almost ready to publish in a couple of weeks, and the first draft of my next book done. Good day!


SWEET!

I'm doing my re-write right now and sending it off to the editor this weekend. It's a good feeling when a book is almost done!


----------



## A.C. Nixon

spellscribe said:


> I'm getting so, so close! I've finished proofing and formatting (gods wasn't THAT little experience a fun one) the createspace version of my book and should have the cover art back by Monday. I'm tweaking the ebook as I type (it takes a while to load and I'm impatient) and hope to swap from 'draft' to 'final version' in about... there, it's done!
> 
> My release date is 2/25 so I'll post a short thread with numbers ad promos when that happens. I'm using FB ads, BKnights, Awesomegang and possibly Betty to promo. I was also contacted out of the blue by a UK book promo site, requesting a review copy for one of their partners. I don't know who they are, but that made me feel a bit special!
> 
> For reviews, I have about 5 people on my mailing list requesting ARCs, and a couple of write people who have beta'd, so I hope to have 10 reviews by the end of the first two weeks. Pie in the sky? Yeah, maybe  Still, I really hope it kicks off ok.


Please remind us when it's live. I had no idea we could do countdown deals on preorders. I love it.


----------



## Guest

A.C. Nixon said:


> Please remind us when it's live. I had no idea we could do countdown deals on preorders. I love it.


Wait, we can? I didn't think we could - because it doesn't technically enter select until it's launched. How is this done?


----------



## spellscribe

No, I've manually dropped it to 99c.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Small Town Writer

My second book went live Saturday! This was the first time I lined up promos for it and...I don't think they did anything haha. I sold 11 copies and probably got about 2 borrows, so not completely bad. I'm a little disappointed because I think this is the best book I've ever written, but keep on keepin' on, right?


----------



## Guest

David Neth said:


> My second book went live Saturday! This was the first time I lined up promos for it and...I don't think they did anything haha. I sold 11 copies and probably got about 2 borrows, so not completely bad. I'm a little disappointed because I think this is the best book I've ever written, but keep on keepin' on, right?


Congrats on book #2!

I feel you on the disappointment. Deviations pre-order went live last week, did a blast to my newsletter and social media and not a single order so far. It makes me sad because I love the story and lots of people expressed interest, but no buyers so now I'm second guessing the price, the date, everything. It's hard to fight the demon of self-doubt even when you really believe in your story. :-/ All that rambling to say yes, keep going! Promo as you can, and keep on to book 3.


----------



## KeraEmory

Hi there. I'm gearing up to launch my debut novel (*panic*). Can I use this thread for some newb questions? I've been absorbing a lot of info this past weekend and I've read through all of the KDP help pages, but definitely still missing some basics. (Let me know if I should just start a separate thread--I can't seem to get a feel for this forum and whether starting my own 'dumb questions I have' thread would be frowned upon.) 

I have quite a few, but here are the first couple of dumb ones.

1) I'm writing in Pages, which outputs to ePub just fine and looks fine on the previewer. Just a straight-up text book with a TOC, no illustrations. But I'm not quite sure how to insert a copyright/acknowledgements page. Do I just add a page at the very top? Not quite sure how the TOC will be affected in Pages, since this wouldn't be part of chapter one.

2) In the Categories selection, KDP will let me select two, and I can only drill down about three levels, e.g., Fiction > Fantasy > Urban. However, in lurking on the forums I have seen some conversations that have been confusing. For example, I've seen people list their books as belonging to three categories, and I've also seen reference to much more granular categories (I think I remember seeing someone reference Fiction > Fantasy > Urban > Romance > Werewolf or something like that). Do these deeper categories exist, or were they referring to keywords or something?

Thanks in advance, and again, if I'd be better off starting a separate thread, please don't hesitate to tell me so.


----------



## Small Town Writer

Anma Natsu said:


> Congrats on book #2!
> 
> I feel you on the disappointment. Deviations pre-order went live last week, did a blast to my newsletter and social media and not a single order so far. It makes me sad because I love the story and lots of people expressed interest, but no buyers so now I'm second guessing the price, the date, everything. It's hard to fight the demon of self-doubt even when you really believe in your story. :-/ All that rambling to say yes, keep going! Promo as you can, and keep on to book 3.


Pre-orders for me have been a trickle. I had 10 for my first book, 6 for my holiday short story, and 4 for this book that just went live. I know for a fact one of them was my best friend who buys all my books, but others were from people who don't know me. I have noticed, though, that I get more pre-orders closer to release day. I really only do pre-orders to get the Amazon link so I can prepare promotions.

And my mailing list has been disappointing too. I have 20 people on my list and only 9 of them opened the email with the subject "The Full Moon is now available!" I don't get it. I did get a bunch of shares on my personal Facebook page and 4-5 extra likes on my author page, but if the engagement isn't there, it doesn't really matter.

Anyway, I'm doing a couple cross-promos this month and next month. Hopefully I see results from that. Until then, the third and fourth books are going to the editor next month and I have a bunch of consecutive releases planned for the end of this year, so cross your fingers!

Hopefully you get more pre-orders!


----------



## writerbee

KeraEmory said:


> Hi there. I'm gearing up to launch my debut novel (*panic*). Can I use this thread for some newb questions? I've been absorbing a lot of info this past weekend and I've read through all of the KDP help pages, but definitely still missing some basics. (Let me know if I should just start a separate thread--I can't seem to get a feel for this forum and whether starting my own 'dumb questions I have' thread would be frowned upon.)
> 
> I have quite a few, but here are the first couple of dumb ones.
> 
> 1) I'm writing in Pages, which outputs to ePub just fine and looks fine on the previewer. Just a straight-up text book with a TOC, no illustrations. But I'm not quite sure how to insert a copyright/acknowledgements page. Do I just add a page at the very top? Not quite sure how the TOC will be affected in Pages, since this wouldn't be part of chapter one.
> 
> 2) In the Categories selection, KDP will let me select two, and I can only drill down about three levels, e.g., Fiction > Fantasy > Urban. However, in lurking on the forums I have seen some conversations that have been confusing. For example, I've seen people list their books as belonging to three categories, and I've also seen reference to much more granular categories (I think I remember seeing someone reference Fiction > Fantasy > Urban > Romance > Werewolf or something like that). Do these deeper categories exist, or were they referring to keywords or something?
> 
> Thanks in advance, and again, if I'd be better off starting a separate thread, please don't hesitate to tell me so.


You can only choose 2 categories. BUT when you look at just about any book on Amazon, you'll see Amazon has added additional categories. This is b/c the Amazon algos searches your KEYWORDS to come up with the more detailed stuff. 
e.g. I chose for the 2 categories Fiction-->Literature--> Romance--> Historical --> Regency 
and 
Fiction--> Romance --> Historical --> Regency [or something like that, it was a while ago. Believe it or not it made a difference in the rankings whether it was Regency in Literature -Historical, or in Romance-Historical. Go figure!) 
So those categories are listed under the books. 
But in my keywords there are a bunch of other things, like London regency historical Cinderella [it's a spin on a Cinderella story], clean sweet young adult, dog, naval officer.....etc. 
So there are a bunch of additional categories that Amazon added to my books. 
(Unfortunately I learned that altho "clean, sweet" is a common search term for readers who want books without sex, it also triggers "inspirational" which my book definitely is NOT, so I had to go back and forth with Amazon a few times before they would remove that. I'd hate to piss off someone looking for an Inspirational book!)

Anyway, that's how you get the more granular category labels. 
Remember that "KEYWORDS" means whatever is between the commas. So you can have dozens of "keywords" not just 7.


----------



## KeraEmory

Thank you, writerbee! Exactly what I needed. 

(And for posterity's sake, the Pages doc doesn't seem to care where I insert my blank page for copyright/acks.)


----------



## spellscribe

KeraEmory said:


> Hi there. I'm gearing up to launch my debut novel (*panic*). Can I use this thread for some newb questions? I've been absorbing a lot of info this past weekend and I've read through all of the KDP help pages, but definitely still missing some basics. (Let me know if I should just start a separate thread--I can't seem to get a feel for this forum and whether starting my own 'dumb questions I have' thread would be frowned upon.)
> 
> I have quite a few, but here are the first couple of dumb ones.
> 
> 1) I'm writing in Pages, which outputs to ePub just fine and looks fine on the previewer. Just a straight-up text book with a TOC, no illustrations. But I'm not quite sure how to insert a copyright/acknowledgements page. Do I just add a page at the very top? Not quite sure how the TOC will be affected in Pages, since this wouldn't be part of chapter one.
> 
> 2) In the Categories selection, KDP will let me select two, and I can only drill down about three levels, e.g., Fiction > Fantasy > Urban. However, in lurking on the forums I have seen some conversations that have been confusing. For example, I've seen people list their books as belonging to three categories, and I've also seen reference to much more granular categories (I think I remember seeing someone reference Fiction > Fantasy > Urban > Romance > Werewolf or something like that). Do these deeper categories exist, or were they referring to keywords or something?
> 
> Thanks in advance, and again, if I'd be better off starting a separate thread, please don't hesitate to tell me so.


Can't help with Pages, but your keywords will land you in extra categories. I *highly* recommend you search the forum for Evenstars monster Keyword thread. It's pure gold!

I've found this forum really awesome with newbie questions  do try to find an answer through the search function, but people here are awesome and don't generally bite. Unless you're in a werewolf thread.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## KeraEmory

> Can't help with Pages, but your keywords will land you in extra categories. I *highly* recommend you search the forum for Evenstars monster Keyword thread. It's pure gold!
> 
> I've found this forum really awesome with newbie questions  do try to find an answer through the search function, but people here are awesome and don't generally bite. Unless you're in a werewolf thread.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


Thank you! (I worked out my Pages issue.)

I'll find that keyword thread, stat.


----------



## Adair Hart

KeraEmory said:


> Thank you! (I worked out my Pages issue.)
> 
> I'll find that keyword thread, stat.


Welcome to the boards Kera! The link is here:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,205816.0.html


----------



## KeraEmory

Adair Hart said:


> Welcome to the boards Kera! The link is here:
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,205816.0.html


Thank you!

(Everyone is generally so nice here it's kind of freaking me out. Clearly I've spent too many years on more combative parts of the internet.)


----------



## Matthew Stott

I have a new book out next week, woo-hoo! I'm preparing the paperback, so I requested a pic for the inside page. Even though they're just taken from the cover itself, I always like getting them. Plus it makes the paperback look a little more pro to me:


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Matthew Stott said:


> I have a new book out next week, woo-hoo! I'm preparing the paperback, so I requested a pic for the inside page. Even though they're just taken from the cover itself, I always like getting them. Plus it makes the paperback look a little more pro to me:


Looks awesome, Matthew!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Looks awesome, Matthew!


THANKS!


----------



## Guest

Since I had no pre-orders on file anyway and I'm all done checking stuff for the eBook, I said "eh, screw it" and moved the launch date for Deviations to February 14th instead of the 28th because I'm ready for it to be out the door. 



Matthew Stott said:


> I have a new book out next week, woo-hoo! I'm preparing the paperback, so I requested a pic for the inside page. Even though they're just taken from the cover itself, I always like getting them. Plus it makes the paperback look a little more pro to me:


It looks great! I do the same thing too on mine and I agree, it does make the paperback just look a bit spiffier.


----------



## Eric T Knight

Thank you writerbee for the info on keywords. I have wondered about that for some time!

Thanks also to Adair and spellscribe for the info on the keyword thread. I'm going there now.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ooh! Just sent across info to my designer for my first new cover I've commissioned since last year...very exciting! This is one of the best bits of publishing, getting to see these cool ideas sent back to me and crafting it into something I like.
I'll be getting a rebrand for Sixty-Six in my sig after that, to fall in line with whatever he comes up with for this latest one, plus it's a little on the dark side. It looks ace full size, but a little drab when shrunk down like that.


----------



## Eric T Knight

> I'll be getting a rebrand for Sixty-Six in my sig after that, to fall in line with whatever he comes up with for this latest one, plus it's a little on the dark side. It looks ace full size, but a little drab when shrunk down like that.


I'm not sure I agree with redoing the 66 cover, Matthew. It was the first one that drew my eye and when I clicked on it and went to Amazon I liked it so much I borrowed it on KU. I think it's a kick ass cover.


----------



## spellscribe

KeraEmory said:


> (Everyone is generally so nice here it's kind of freaking me out. Clearly I've spent too many years on more combative parts of the internet.)


That'd be thanks to our AWESOME forum mods. They are the ones who keep this place so civil that trolls don't even both knocking at the door!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Matthew Stott

Eric T Knight said:


> I'm not sure I agree with redoing the 66 cover, Matthew. It was the first one that drew my eye and when I clicked on it and went to Amazon I liked it so much I borrowed it on KU. I think it's a kick ass cover.


Oh, thanks very much!


----------



## Mari Oliver

Hi, everyone. I'm brand spanking new here but have been reading these forums for a while. I published a short story to Kindle a few days ago and feel completely rejuvenated, inspired, and motivated to continue publishing. I haven't made one sale yet but hey, at least I FINALLY published something after years of dreaming. Anyway, I wanted to say 'hello' and that I've been learning a lot from sitting behind the scenes here.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Vintage Mari said:


> Hi, everyone. I'm brand spanking new here but have been reading these forums for a while. I published a short story to Kindle a few days ago and feel completely rejuvenated, inspired, and motivated to continue publishing. I haven't made one sale yet but hey, at least I FINALLY published something after years of dreaming. Anyway, I wanted to say 'hello' and that I've been learning a lot from sitting behind the scenes here.


Welcome, Mari, and congratulations! That's a fun cover--a little dangerous, a little zany, a little hopefully romantic.


----------



## Mari Oliver

Wow, thank you Cindy.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ah, I finally got around to something I've been putting off and started my automated mailing list. Now when anyone signs up, they will automatically get five spaced out emails, some with free stuff, some with 'getting to know you' stuff. Hopefully this is a step toward bonding with my subscribers and really engaging my list moving forward.


----------



## Guest

Deviations is now out!  Yay I officially have two books published 

To my surprise I got the email this morning from Amazon asking if I'd like to notify my followers!  From most threads here, it seemed like that might not come for weeks after release.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Cool; nice cover!


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> Ah, I finally got around to something I've been putting off and started my automated mailing list. Now when anyone signs up, they will automatically get five spaced out emails, some with free stuff, some with 'getting to know you' stuff. Hopefully this is a step toward bonding with my subscribers and really engaging my list moving forward.


Oh, wow! Are you using the free version of mailchimp for that? And if you are, how does one go about doing that? (I'm a total noob when it comes to mailchimp)

EDIT: typo!


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> Oh, wow! Are you using the free version of mailchimp for that? And if you are, how does one go about doing that? (I'm a total noob when it comes to mailchimp)
> 
> EDIT: typo!


You can only do it by using the paid version, and the amount you pay each month changes depending on how many subscribers you have. I'm paying $10 a month now. If you sign up for it, it's actually really easy to do. And I'm saying this as someone who is pretty terrible at this stuff!


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> You can only do it by using the paid version, and the amount you pay each month changes depending on how many subscribers you have. I'm paying $10 a month now. If you sign up for it, it's actually really easy to do. And I'm saying this as someone who is pretty terrible at this stuff!


Ah, OK thanks. I guess I will wait until I either have more mailing list subscribers or I get more sales to cover the expense. No point in getting the paid version since I only have a handful of subscribers right now.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Has anyone tried the KBoards "Book Discovery" promo option? It's $15 and runs on a Friday evening (so gets displayed on FB then, and then in the email boxes of KBoards blog recipients by Saturday). I ran one this past week and was quite underwhelmed. The "likes" and shares on FB totaled about eight, five of whom were me and a couple of friends of mine. Even most of the others advertised there didn't interact with the ad! And I had no sales for two days. Quite disappointing! Won't be trying that one again, but I just wonder whether others have better experiences . . .


----------



## M.W. Griffith

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Has anyone tried the KBoards "Book Discovery" promo option? It's $15 and runs on a Friday evening (so gets displayed on FB then, and then in the email boxes of KBoards blog recipients by Saturday). I ran one this past week and was quite underwhelmed. The "likes" and shares on FB totaled about eight, five of whom were me and a couple of friends of mine. Even most of the others advertised there didn't interact with the ad! And I had no sales for two days. Quite disappointing! Won't be trying that one again, but I just wonder whether others have better experiences . . .


I used the Book Discovery promotion once. It didn't yield a single sale. It was VERY disappointing!


----------



## M.W. Griffith

Matthew Stott said:


> I have a new book out next week, woo-hoo! I'm preparing the paperback, so I requested a pic for the inside page. Even though they're just taken from the cover itself, I always like getting them. Plus it makes the paperback look a little more pro to me:


Just so you know, I really like your work.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

M.W. Griffith said:


> I used the Book Discovery promotion once. It didn't yield a single sale. It was VERY disappointing!


Glad I'm not the only one! Looks like the promo needs some attention.


----------



## spellscribe

One of my ARC readers (who found me via a fb ad, I don't know her in any way) just left a review for Dream Stalker over on good reads. It was so amazing I cried. I don't ever, ever want to become so big/famous/rich/successful that I *don't* have this feeling after a review like that.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Matthew Stott

M.W. Griffith said:


> Just so you know, I really like your work.


Thanks a lot!


----------



## Matthew Stott

spellscribe said:


> One of my ARC readers (who found me via a fb ad, I don't know her in any way) just left a review for Dream Stalker over on good reads. It was so amazing I cried. I don't ever, ever want to become so big/famous/rich/successful that I *don't* have this feeling after a review like that.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


That's really cool; nice reviews are the best.


----------



## Maggie Brooke

I'm a little late to this party, but I wanted to echo what others have said to Matthew Stott. Your covers are really incredible. Kudos both to you and your designer! I just signed up for KU this past month and will borrow and check out the new one. Love the title too!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Maggie Brooke said:


> I'm a little late to this party, but I wanted to echo what others have said to Matthew Stott. Your covers are really incredible. Kudos both to you and your designer! I just signed up for KU this past month and will borrow and check out the new one. Love the title too!


Thanks a lot!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Well, my new book is out there! (the green book in my sig).

Probably the last in that series unless it starts to sell better, but it feels good to get three in a series out there. (Although it's a series, they're stand alone with new characters that can be read in any order)

I'd love to write more, but we'll see.


----------



## blancheking

Matthew Stott said:


> Well, my new book is out there! (the green book in my sig).
> 
> Probably the last in that series unless it starts to sell better, but it feels good to get three in a series out there. (Although it's a series, they're stand alone with new characters that can be read in any order)
> 
> I'd love to write more, but we'll see.


Love the covers! I'll check it out!


----------



## Matthew Stott

blancheking said:


> Love the covers! I'll check it out!


That's so nice, thank you.


----------



## avcsc

Great topic- I self-published my first novel 2 weeks ago. Talk about a newbie! I published through the KDP program with Amazon to take advantage of marketing opportunities. This past weekend I ran my novel for free with the hope of gaining reviews this month. I self-promoted my tail off on social media and wound up with a few hundred copies downloaded. Before the promotion, I had sold about 50 between friends/family/and having them suggest it to their friends. During the free promo I learned a lot about missed opportunities including having the support of websites that will promote your book during free promotions. I hustled on Twitter & Instagram but I found when I threw my novel up on Free Ebook communities on Facebook I received the greatest response. I am hoping to gain a few solid reviews from the giveaway and in a month or so I'll do it again. Getting your book into readers hands, to me, is the most important start of a launch. I joked at the end of the promotion that I was going to hide under the kitchen sink and sip on bleach. Self-promotion is no joke. But it's what we signed up for and I believe in the end the dedication you have to your book and readers is going to pay off. Good luck, everyone!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Dunno if this'll work out or not, but I've just signed up to Nick Stephenson's 'Your First 10000 Readers' course.
I've not paid for any course before, but it wasn't too costly spread over a year, and if it can help build my audience then it'll be more than worth it.
Let's see....


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> Well, my new book is out there! (the green book in my sig).
> 
> Probably the last in that series unless it starts to sell better, but it feels good to get three in a series out there. (Although it's a series, they're stand alone with new characters that can be read in any order)
> 
> I'd love to write more, but we'll see.


What are you planning to do next?


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> What are you planning to do next?


I have a three book fantasy/horror 'mini-series' that I'm currently working on. I'm also fiddling with a couple of novellas, and then onto an Urban Fantasy series. So busy, busy! But that's it for 'kids' stuff unless I manage to get the books I've already done more visible. They move in a steady trickle, but not enough right now to make a fourth book worthwhile, which is a shame.


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> I have a three book fantasy/horror 'mini-series' that I'm currently working on. I'm also fiddling with a couple of novellas, and then onto an Urban Fantasy series. So busy, busy! But that's it for 'kids' stuff unless I manage to get the books I've already done more visible. They move in a steady trickle, but not enough right now to make a fourth book worthwhile, which is a shame.


Yeah children's books are a tough sell unless youre Dr. Seuss! It's a good thing that youve got plenty of projects down the pipeline since having lots of books to your name is always a good thing.


----------



## Maggie Brooke

JTriptych said:


> Yeah children's books are a tough sell unless youre Dr. Seuss! It's a good thing that youve got plenty of projects down the pipeline since having lots of books to your name is always a good thing.


You all should send all your KU children's books titles to me. I'll get you one more reader. I've got a seven year old who is voraciously reading through every single book available to him. Since we signed up for KU a few weeks ago, I think he's already read a few dozen. He might still be too young for many of these titles, but he'll get there.

I imagine the KU children's market will grow in the next decade. Some parents might be still hesitant to give their young readers access, but we just couldn't keep up with him and the constant trips to the library. This has been a great compromise.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Maggie Brooke said:


> You all should send all your KU children's books titles to me.


Heh, well, mine are all the brightly coloured books in my sig. Here's a link if you want to poke around: http://www.amazon.com/Matthew-Stott/e/B01694YFX8/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1


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## JTriptych

Well, I'll be launching my newest book in a few days and it will be set for permafree and wide. It's a complete, standalone YA novel and is part of my post apocalyptic series but anyone can read it without having to read the other books in the main trilogy. Thanks to fellow newbie Matthew and the others for coaching me on the British swear words- I hope nobody from the UK will bash me if I screw up on this!


----------



## Eric T Knight

> Well, my new book is out there! (the green book in my sig).
> 
> Probably the last in that series unless it starts to sell better, but it feels good to get three in a series out there. (Although it's a series, they're stand alone with new characters that can be read in any order)
> 
> I'd love to write more, but we'll see.


Well I just finished A Monstrous Place and I loved it. Really unique characters, good description, lots of action. I hope you get more sales.

Then I read on down through later posts and I think I saw that those three books are children's books? Did I get that right? If so, color me surprised. I don't usually read children's books but I quite enjoyed that one.


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> Well, I'll be launching my newest book in a few days and it will be set for permafree and wide. It's a complete, standalone YA novel and is part of my post apocalyptic series but anyone can read it without having to read the other books in the main trilogy. Thanks to fellow newbie Matthew and the others for coaching me on the British swear words- I hope nobody from the UK will bash me if I screw up on this!


Cool cover!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Eric T Knight said:


> Well I just finished A Monstrous Place and I loved it. Really unique characters, good description, lots of action. I hope you get more sales.
> 
> Then I read on down through later posts and I think I saw that those three books are children's books? Did I get that right? If so, color me surprised. I don't usually read children's books but I quite enjoyed that one.


Thanks again, Eric! Yeah, they're kids books really, but kids books in the same way that something like Neil Gaiman's Coraline is. The hope being that both kids and adults would enjoy them.


----------



## Matthew Stott

I had my best no-ads boosted sales day yesterday, thanks to the new book launch and an email to my mailing list. When I say 'best', I'm only talking 12 sales in one day, mostly for the new book. That obviously isn't a giant amount, but at the level I'm at it feels like a good, big chunk. I have an ad running today through Bargain Booksy, so it'll be interesting to see if that moves many. I'm also gonna do a Facebook ad for the new book next week, targeted directly at the people already on my list; a trick I learned from Mark Dawson.

I also have a second mailing list (the Genre Reader one) that I'll hit up at some point.

Selling twelve from a mailing list of 500 people is clearly not ideal, but I'm working towards trying to engage those people more.


----------



## Guest

12 is still yay!  :-D  (and 12 from 500 is way better than my 0 from 188 LOL).

I hope you'll post how the FB ad does.  I'm considering trying those this year


----------



## Bbates024

Matthew Stott said:


> I had my best no-ads boosted sales day yesterday, thanks to the new book launch and an email to my mailing list. When I say 'best', I'm only talking 12 sales in one day, mostly for the new book. That obviously isn't a giant amount, but at the level I'm at it feels like a good, big chunk. I have an ad running today through Bargain Booksy, so it'll be interesting to see if that moves many. I'm also gonna do a Facebook ad for the new book next week, targeted directly at the people already on my list; a trick I learned from Mark Dawson.
> 
> I also have a second mailing list (the Genre Reader one) that I'll hit up at some point.
> 
> Selling twelve from a mailing list of 500 people is clearly not ideal, but I'm working towards trying to engage those people more.


Grats man! I'm kicking it at about 4-5 per day right now with about 2k page reads, but I haven't released since September. I have book coming out March 1st and April 1st, and then a pen name title in there as well as a relaunch of Arena and book three in May and June.... CRAZY!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Bbates024 said:


> Grats man! I'm kicking it at about 4-5 per day right now with about 2k page reads, but I haven't released since September.


Thanks! That's better than my current daily average; 5 is a really good day for me...! Though I haven't tried to push it since the start of December, so it has been left to fall down to that this year. Now this third one is out I'll be kicking things up a notch.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Anma Natsu said:


> I hope you'll post how the FB ad does. I'm considering trying those this year


I'd love to see others' stats for FB ads, too, but I'll share mine . . .

During my Kindle Scout campaign I tested $30 of FB ads and $20 of Twitter ads and got very poor results. I learned how better to target my ads for FB and yesterday this is what I did, for a $35 lifetime campaign in two time blocks over 19 hours. You should know that my novel is historical fiction based on the true journal of a young pioneer woman in Michigan in the 1850s. I used elements like that in my FB ad, plus the fact that it has all 5-star reviews so far.

Wednesday evening hours 6 - 10 pm, targeted Michigan males and females ages 35 and up who have Kindle Fire OR have purchased Kindle books (two different categories). I chose as my goal website clicks, and I linked to the Kindle preview of the book. About $25 of my budget was spent during that time, and I sold two books (and don't know how many picked it up with Kindle Unlimited, but page views will show eventually, even though I can't count it accurately). That's not very good considering my royalty on each book is about $2. I paid $12.50 to yield $4 in sales. That $25 bought me 2300 views or so, 25 clicks (just under 1% result) and two purchases (just under 10% conversion to sales, which FB doesn't know). That encourages me that my book really sells itself to 10% of viewers once they take a look! Yay!

However, this morning I adjusted my target audience before the 9 a.m. - 12 noon window I'd scheduled, based on the performance yesterday. I was surprised to see that Mobile views accounted for 90% of ad clicks, and not surprised to see that women accounted for 90% of the clicks. So I changed my audience to all mobile ads and all women and only 50 and older. I also refined their interests to purchasing on a Kindle AND being interested in fiction books. For the remaining $10 of my campaign with this targeting I got only 230 views, just 10% of the previous day's views, but it was so well targeted that that yielded 17 clicks, 2/3 of the number of the day before, and 17.5% click rate (compared to 1% the day before), plus three sales today (so far) attributable to the campaign, and just under 20% actually buying the book. So I spent $10 today for $6 in sales. Still not what I want for advertising return, but it was a great experiment and a testimony to the power of careful targeting!

As I analyze it, I realize that perhaps I should retain the kind of targeting I have, but branch out to all the U.S. (wish there were a way to name several states), and set as my goal impressions (people looking at the ad). With the targeting, I know already that the viewing DOES lead to clicking, and clicking to 20% of those people buying! Anyone have thoughts on my analysis here? I'm going to pose the question to the ALLi members page on FB . . .

Hope that's helpful to someone. Please ask if you have questions!


----------



## Eric T Knight

Thank you for the info, Cindy. That's a lot to mull over. I've done FB ads before without nearly the success rate you had. It sounds like you're onto something, but I think I'll have to read it a couple more times before it soaks in!


----------



## ChickenWrangler

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Hope that's helpful to someone.


That was hugely helpful! Thank you for sharing your experience. (I was bummed when your book didn't get picked up for Scout...)


----------



## spellscribe

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> I'd love to see others' stats for FB ads, too, but I'll share mine . . .
> 
> During my Kindle Scout campaign I tested $30 of FB ads and $20 of Twitter ads and got very poor results. I learned how better to target my ads for FB and yesterday this is what I did, for a $35 lifetime campaign in two time blocks over 19 hours. You should know that my novel is historical fiction based on the true journal of a young pioneer woman in Michigan in the 1850s. I used elements like that in my FB ad, plus the fact that it has all 5-star reviews so far.
> 
> Wednesday evening hours 6 - 10 pm, targeted Michigan males and females ages 35 and up who have Kindle Fire OR have purchased Kindle books (two different categories). I chose as my goal website clicks, and I linked to the Kindle preview of the book. About $25 of my budget was spent during that time, and I sold two books (and don't know how many picked it up with Kindle Unlimited, but page views will show eventually, even though I can't count it accurately). That's not very good considering my royalty on each book is about $2. I paid $12.50 to yield $4 in sales. That $25 bought me 2300 views or so, 25 clicks (just under 1% result) and two purchases (just under 10% conversion to sales, which FB doesn't know). That encourages me that my book really sells itself to 10% of viewers once they take a look! Yay!
> 
> However, this morning I adjusted my target audience before the 9 a.m. - 12 noon window I'd scheduled, based on the performance yesterday. I was surprised to see that Mobile views accounted for 90% of ad clicks, and not surprised to see that women accounted for 90% of the clicks. So I changed my audience to all mobile ads and all women and only 50 and older. I also refined their interests to purchasing on a Kindle AND being interested in fiction books. For the remaining $10 of my campaign with this targeting I got only 230 views, just 10% of the previous day's views, but it was so well targeted that that yielded 17 clicks, 2/3 of the number of the day before, and 17.5% click rate (compared to 1% the day before), plus three sales today (so far) attributable to the campaign, and just under 20% actually buying the book. So I spent $10 today for $6 in sales. Still not what I want for advertising return, but it was a great experiment and a testimony to the power of careful targeting!
> 
> As I analyze it, I realize that perhaps I should retain the kind of targeting I have, but branch out to all the U.S. (wish there were a way to name several states), and set as my goal impressions (people looking at the ad). With the targeting, I know already that the viewing DOES lead to clicking, and clicking to 20% of those people buying! Anyone have thoughts on my analysis here? I'm going to pose the question to the ALLi members page on FB . . .
> 
> Hope that's helpful to someone. Please ask if you have questions!


Have you tried targeting readers who like or follow an author similar to you?

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Eric T Knight said:


> Thank you for the info, Cindy. That's a lot to mull over. I've done FB ads before without nearly the success rate you had. It sounds like you're onto something, but I think I'll have to read it a couple more times before it soaks in!


Well, success in one sense, but I'm still spending more on the advertising than I'm gaining in sales! 

Thanks so much, James--kind words ease the sting!

Amy, that's something I ought to try, but it's not immediately clear how to do that. I was working off of the "browse" for categories of things to choose, and it's not very comprehensive. Can you point me in the right direction? I'd definitely choose people interested in Willa Cather, Marilynne Robinson . . .


----------



## JTriptych

Bbates024 said:


> Grats man! I'm kicking it at about 4-5 per day right now with about 2k page reads, but I haven't released since September. I have book coming out March 1st and April 1st, and then a pen name title in there as well as a relaunch of Arena and book three in May and June.... CRAZY!


Congrats! Looks like the third book is the charm for you.


----------



## spellscribe

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Well, success in one sense, but I'm still spending more on the advertising than I'm gaining in sales!
> 
> Thanks so much, James--kind words ease the sting!
> 
> Amy, that's something I ought to try, but it's not immediately clear how to do that. I was working off of the "browse" for categories of things to choose, and it's not very comprehensive. Can you point me in the right direction? I'd definitely choose people interested in Willa Cather, Marilynne Robinson . . .


The best way to get your head around it is to watch Mark Dawson's free videos. He explains it much better than I could  I think his website is selfpublishingformula.com

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

spellscribe said:


> The best way to get your head around it is to watch Mark Dawson's free videos. He explains it much better than I could  I think his website is selfpublishingformula.com
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


Thanks, Amy. I signed up for those just before I saw this message! ;-)


----------



## JalexM

My book didn't get into Kindle Scout. Meh. But time to move on to my release plan. 
First setting up a print and putting it on preorder for release April 12th. Would release sooner but I have no money to promo it like I want to.
I plan on following what Salvador did in his promo thread.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Heh; well here was me wondering why the new book hadn't had any KU page reads, when I go to unclick the 90 day auto-renew box it turns out I somehow never enrolled it.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Matthew Stott said:


> Heh; well here was me wondering why the new book hadn't had any KU page reads, when I go to unclick the 90 day auto-renew box it turns out I somehow never enrolled it.


Oh, bummer! Hope you see good reads with re-enrollment!


----------



## JalexM

Setting up for my next major release. Put it on preorder for April so I can set up for an explosive release. It being my second major release hopefully I learned how to do a good release.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C1WUPVI
Set up a thunderclap.
If anybody has any following I would be great fun if y'all sign up for my thunderclap!
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/38100-the-men-who-killed-god


----------



## Matthew Stott

Got turned down for a Bookbub and a Robin Reads promo yesterday; bit of a bummer...!  
I had tried for a 0.99 Bookbub though, next time I'll attempt for a free promo again.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Hi, everybody!

Does anyone have experience with a unique paperback released alongside a Kindle version? My book is good for Kindle (out for a month now) but even better for print, since it's historical, based on a real journal, and lends itself well to some print features. So my print version, launched this morning on Amazon, includes a full gorgeous cover, period-appropriate fonts, special touches of a font based on Rosette's own handwriting (a gift from a friend), and twenty-four charcoal illustrations by my daughter, the cover artist.

Now we'll see how sales synergize . . . I'm doing a Matchbook Price at 99 cents, and I'm offering a promotional freebie autographed bookplate for mailing list folks.

Please go take a peek at my little showcase at www.rosettebook.com .


----------



## Jim Johnson

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Hi, everybody!
> 
> Does anyone have experience with a unique paperback released alongside a Kindle version? My book is good for Kindle (out for a month now) but even better for print, since it's historical, based on a real journal, and lends itself well to some print features. So my print version, launched this morning on Amazon, includes a full gorgeous cover, period-appropriate fonts, special touches of a font based on Rosette's own handwriting (a gift from a friend), and twenty-four charcoal illustrations by my daughter, the cover artist.


Cindy, I have some similar experience. I published the ebook of my first in series before the print version was ready because I was waiting for the artist to finish their work. I also didn't include the art in the ebook because I didn't want to inflate the download size and pay the added delivery fee for a larger file. So print buyers get some bonus material.

I like your sketches and think it's awesome that you have a different print version than the ebook.

I made my matchbook free, so I'll be curious to hear how you do with a 99 cent deal.

(As an aside, I found your website hard to read--the scrolling text over the text background was really tough to make out.)

Good luck with the book!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Jim Johnson said:


> (As an aside, I found your website hard to read--the scrolling text over the text background was really tough to make out.)
> 
> Good luck with the book!


Thanks for your thoughts, Jim, especially about the website reading. I'll see about muting that background some more. It's tough to adjust for all the different browsers (and phones!). I'll report about the Matchbook price. How many do you find take you up on the offer for that? How does it compare to your Kindle-only sales of the same title?


----------



## Jim Johnson

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> I'll report about the Matchbook price. How many do you find take you up on the offer for that? How does it compare to your Kindle-only sales of the same title?


So far, zero!


----------



## CarmenShea

I'm really glad to have found this thread, spent the last few days reading through (most of) the posts here and you guys have a wealth of information I'm grateful to have read before I launch my first novel (pre-orders are opening next week). Especially the stuff about promos!

One question I do have: how do you deal with the highs and lows? One minute I'm giddy at the thought of publishing, the next I'm terrified- not that noone will read it, but more that people won't like it if they do and generally that would be fine but I've seen threads on these boards about horrible reviewers and now my mind keeps going back to that! XD


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Jim Johnson said:


> So far, zero!


Well, points for generosity on your part, anyway! And I made the main overlay of my site a little more opaque to make it easier to read. I'd have to enlist my artist daughter with the cool software to change the original image, but I think it's okay as it is. If you have a chance to check the site again, I'd appreciate knowing how it works in your browser now!  www.rosettebook.com


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

CarmenShea said:


> One question I do have: how do you deal with the highs and lows? One minute I'm giddy at the thought of publishing, the next I'm terrified- not that noone will read it, but more that people won't like it if they do and generally that would be fine but I've seen threads on these boards about horrible reviewers and now my mind keeps going back to that! XD


I think that's the nature of the business, Carmen. It's like turning yourself inside out and inviting people to comment on and pick at your guts. But my husband wisely reminded me that you can never underestimate the power of envy (or competition). If you get noticed enough that it makes somebody uncomfortable, you'll get some bad reviews. It should be a mark of honor--that is, if the book is good to begin with! And that's where it helps to have honest and talented friends who will tell us straight how much more work we need to do or that perhaps we should be doing something else. That's tough to hear. :-/


----------



## Jim Johnson

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Well, points for generosity on your part, anyway! And I made the main overlay of my site a little more opaque to make it easier to read. I'd have to enlist my artist daughter with the cool software to change the original image, but I think it's okay as it is. If you have a chance to check the site again, I'd appreciate knowing how it works in your browser now!  www.rosettebook.com


The change looks really great! Nicely readable.


----------



## CarmenShea

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> I think that's the nature of the business, Carmen. It's like turning yourself inside out and inviting people to comment on and pick at your guts. But my husband wisely reminded me that you can never underestimate the power of envy (or competition). If you get noticed enough that it makes somebody uncomfortable, you'll get some bad reviews. It should be a mark of honor--that is, if the book is good to begin with! And that's where it helps to have honest and talented friends who will tell us straight how much more work we need to do or that perhaps we should be doing something else. That's tough to hear. :-/


It's a strange feeling for me mostly because I've been publishing fanfiction online for years so I thought I'd be more immune to this idea. I guess I'm just way more invested in this because it's completely my own, you know?

One of my worries was that my friends weren't being honest enough with me but I've had some people read it who don't know me that well and they gave me more constructive feedback so I'm in as good a place as I'll ever be with it. And it feels ready. I'm know I'm just over thinking, and letting the pessimist in me take over!

Sent from my GT-I9192 using Tapatalk


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## JTriptych

CarmenShea said:


> I'm really glad to have found this thread, spent the last few days reading through (most of) the posts here and you guys have a wealth of information I'm grateful to have read before I launch my first novel (pre-orders are opening next week). Especially the stuff about promos!
> 
> One question I do have: how do you deal with the highs and lows? One minute I'm giddy at the thought of publishing, the next I'm terrified- not that noone will read it, but more that people won't like it if they do and generally that would be fine but I've seen threads on these boards about horrible reviewers and now my mind keeps going back to that! XD


What youre feeling is perfectly fine, I think everybody has gone through it. The key is to believe in yourself and just keep going. My first three months in this business and I was checking my sales reports every hour, now its maybe once a week if Im in the mood for it. It also pays not to mind what the reviewers say- you need a thick skin in this business.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Jim Johnson said:


> The change looks really great! Nicely readable.


Oh, good!  Thanks for having another look.


----------



## T S Paul

I'm gonna jump in here.   I published my little book last week on the 18th. Its small only 31 pages. Lots of folks on here say small books don't do well. So far pretty good right out the gate. Just passed 50 copy sold mark tonight. I realize that that is not a whole lot but for a 30pg book? I had the covers done for free professionally by a mentor of mine, I gave him credit for it. He has his own books. Just wanted to say hi


----------



## Lisa5

scott2218 said:


> I'm gonna jump in here.  I published my little book last week on the 18th. Its small only 31 pages. Lots of folks on here say small books don't do well. So far pretty good right out the gate. Just passed 50 copy sold mark tonight. I realize that that is not a whole lot but for a 30pg book? I had the covers done for free professionally by a mentor of mine, I gave him credit for it. He has his own books. Just wanted to say hi


Wow your ranking is pretty great too how'd you DO that? lol


----------



## Matthew Stott

scott2218 said:


> I'm gonna jump in here.  I published my little book last week on the 18th. Its small only 31 pages. Lots of folks on here say small books don't do well. So far pretty good right out the gate. Just passed 50 copy sold mark tonight. I realize that that is not a whole lot but for a 30pg book? I had the covers done for free professionally by a mentor of mine, I gave him credit for it. He has his own books. Just wanted to say hi


Not a whole lot? 50 sold, in the first week, for a short book no less, is pretty darn great!


----------



## T S Paul

Lisa Whitefern said:


> Wow your ranking is pretty great too how'd you DO that? lol


Not real sure. I sold 4 books on the first day. over 700pgs kenp that day. Then 7 bks , then 2bks, then a steady boom every day at least 5. Yesterday 12. I was #1 without any reviews. Now i have 3. My mentor, thinks its funny. The book only has 31 pgs. Book 2 should be done tomorrow and read to post by the end of the week, maybe. The cover art is ready.


----------



## CarmenShea

JTriptych said:


> What youre feeling is perfectly fine, I think everybody has gone through it. The key is to believe in yourself and just keep going. My first three months in this business and I was checking my sales reports every hour, now its maybe once a week if Im in the mood for it. It also pays not to mind what the reviewers say- you need a thick skin in this business.


Thanks X) I think I'll be fine once it's actually available but right now all the "what if" thoughts seen to be dubbing through my head!

Sent from my GT-I9192 using Tapatalk


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## spellscribe

So I'm a few days in and the jitters are going, finally! I managed to track at about 18k pretty solidly from a good week before release thanks to some unexpected preorders. My BKNIGHTS promo + some awesome support from my writers group means I've sold 40 copies in about 3 days, and I've had a hair over 2k pages read. 

I know it'll go down, bit it's hard to not die inside when it does. My next promo isn't until Monday, then the 5th, so I won't be able to hold on during the gaps in between. I'm just hoping Patty''s promo in particular is enough to juice the algos just a tiny bit so I'm not back in the millions when book 2 comes out. 

Scott, I love the colour on that cover! Do you have a plan for total # of books and the release schedule between? With a launch like that I'm sure you'll do well  

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## T S Paul

I finished writing book 2 this morning. One of my editors sent me the corrections for the first 3 chapters.  book 2 looks to be about twice as long as the first one. So I am working on that. I plan at least 3-5 books in the series. My cover designer is my mentor on Kindle, a fellow author. I like them too.


----------



## Adair Hart

spellscribe said:


> So I'm a few days in and the jitters are going, finally! I managed to track at about 18k pretty solidly from a good week before release thanks to some unexpected preorders. My BKNIGHTS promo + some awesome support from my writers group means I've sold 40 copies in about 3 days, and I've had a hair over 2k pages read.
> 
> I know it'll go down, bit it's hard to not die inside when it does. My next promo isn't until Monday, then the 5th, so I won't be able to hold on during the gaps in between. I'm just hoping Patty''s promo in particular is enough to juice the algos just a tiny bit so I'm not back in the millions when book 2 comes out.
> 
> Scott, I love the colour on that cover! Do you have a plan for total # of books and the release schedule between? With a launch like that I'm sure you'll do well
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


.

Congratulations! You're off to a good start. One thing I saw from my first patty promo was a long tail on January 5th. It seemed to run all the way to my January 19th promotion.



scott2218 said:


> I finished writing book 2 this morning. One of my editors sent me the corrections for the first 3 chapters. book 2 looks to be about twice as long as the first one. So I am working on that. I plan at least 3-5 books in the series. My cover designer is my mentor on Kindle, a fellow author. I like them too.


31 pages and fifty sales is quite good! Interestingly enough, my second book is almost twice as long as my first. I've seen some of the same thoughts on shorts, but you and Eamon seem to be doing something right with them. I've got some ideas for several short stories, maybe I'll investigate doing one or two 



CarmenShea said:


> Thanks X) I think I'll be fine once it's actually available but right now all the "what if" thoughts seen to be dubbing through my head!
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9192 using Tapatalk


Welcome and hang in there, Carmen! When I launched in September of last year I had a lot of "What ifs" rampaging through my head as well. However, I focused on what I could control, writing book 2. Those jitters will pass in time


----------



## CarmenShea

Adair Hart said:


> Welcome and hang in there, Carmen! When I launched in September of last year I had a lot of "What ifs" rampaging through my head as well. However, I focused on what I could control, writing book 2. Those jitters will pass in time


Well whatever my "what ifs" I've just submitted my book to Amazon so ready or not within the next twelve hours it'll be up for preordering! MEEP! 

Yes, good plan! Focusing on writing book two will probably help a lot with these jitters. In fact as soon as my computer is finished updating itself (ugh talk about bad timing!) I think I'll spend the rest of this evening doing just that!

Sent from my GT-I9192 using Tapatalk


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## CarmenShea

scott2218 said:


> I'm gonna jump in here.  I published my little book last week on the 18th. Its small only 31 pages. Lots of folks on here say small books don't do well. So far pretty good right out the gate. Just passed 50 copy sold mark tonight. I realize that that is not a whole lot but for a 30pg book? I had the covers done for free professionally by a mentor of mine, I gave him credit for it. He has his own books. Just wanted to say hi


It's really exciting to see someone doing so well with a short story, esp with the price around the same as novels with 2-3 hundred pages more. But you've got a good cover and blurb to go with it, which is the best selling point for any story! 

Can I ask what the wordcount equivalent to 31pages is?

Sent from my GT-I9192 using Tapatalk


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## T S Paul

My word count on book 1 (the Forgotten engineer) is right at 8k  the new one is about 12k but editing is not done on it, yet. 
I've slipped, just a little in the America market. Still #1 in Sci Fi (and have been for a week)


    #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Science Fiction & Fantasy
    #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Teen & Young Adult
    #12 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 45 minutes (22-32 pages) > Literature & Fiction

and now gaining some traction in Canada


    #44 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Galactic Empire
    #54 in Books > Children's Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction
    #69 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Opera

Still really weird. We will have to see what happens when the second book comes out next weekend.


----------



## Matthew Stott

It seems like there is quite an appetite for short, sci-fi serials. I've seen a few people doing well, there.


----------



## Guest

Not sure how or why, but since I did a free weekend last weekend, Aisuru has sold three full price eBook copies, 3 print copies, and seems to have steady borrows too  @[email protected] Deviations also seems to be getting steady borrows despite my struggling to get it in the right categories (so far, no matter what I do, it's stuck with 3)

So yay! 

Now to try (again) on these darn cats...


----------



## T S Paul

Anma Natsu said:


> Not sure how or why, but since I did a free weekend last weekend, Aisuru has sold three full price copies and seems to have steady borrows too @[email protected] Deviations also seems to be getting steady borrows despite my struggling to get it in the right categories (so far, no matter what I do, it's stuck with 3)
> 
> So yay!
> 
> Now to try (again) on these darn cats...


Have you tried maybe the YA manga or japanese crowd? you have that sort of theme going, maybe look for some manga romance themed blogs on FB and elsewhere. The romance theme for manga is Huge! (I used to be a Waldenbooks manager) Try something like that? couldn't hurt


----------



## Guest

scott2218 said:


> Have you tried maybe the YA manga or japanese crowd? you have that sort of theme going, maybe look for some manga romance themed blogs on FB and elsewhere. The romance theme for manga is Huge! (I used to be a Waldenbooks manager) Try something like that? couldn't hurt


I have looked at some though they didn't do book reviews. Now that I'm done with getting Deviations out though, I do plan to make a more concerted effort to search out some that might be interested.

Funny thing is, I pretty much decided to not do much promo now until book 3 is out because it seemed to just be throwing money away, and so now they are selling? i didn't even promote the free weekend other than on BookScream. It's a happy confusion to be sure :-D I'll take this over months of flatlined any day


----------



## CarmenShea

My book is now live on Amazon!  

I'm so excited omg. Please consider checking it out, guys (and, if it sounds like your cup of tea, maybe ordering it too?)  

Now I need to work on how to promo the hell out of it!


----------



## T S Paul

My wife and I were talking and maybe the surge in short book sales is due to cell phones and tablets. Never before has there been a time when just about everyone is digitaly connected in some way. Folks want something to read on their phone/tablet that is short and not too long. Just a thought


----------



## Lukeofkondor

CarmenShea said:


> My book is now live on Amazon!


Great work!

My book 2 went live today. It's a good feeling


----------



## Azalea

Just saw your book, Monstrous Place, on a Goodreads ad, Matt! 

ETA: Just realized...maybe it was just one of those Google/Amazon ads, based on my checking out your book before.


----------



## CarmenShea

Lukeofkondor said:


> Great work!
> 
> My book 2 went live today. It's a good feeling


And to you!  I need to submit my final copy by the 4th but once that's done I'm all primed and ready to recommence work on book two. It really is a good feeling!


----------



## CarmenShea

scott2218 said:


> My wife and I were talking and maybe the surge in short book sales is due to cell phones and tablets. Never before has there been a time when just about everyone is digitaly connected in some way. Folks want something to read on their phone/tablet that is short and not too long. Just a thought


That could actually be it! Now that I think about it, whenever I don't have a lot of time (aka when I only have my phone to read on) but still want to read something I search my goodreads and organise by page size and go for the shortest ones first XD


----------



## Matthew Stott

Azalea Ellis said:


> Just saw your book, Monstrous Place, on a Goodreads ad, Matt!
> 
> ETA: Just realized...maybe it was just one of those Google/Amazon ads, based on my checking out your book before.


Heh, yeah, I imagine it was the latter!

Though if Goodreads wants to push my book, they have my blessing...


----------



## Bbates024

I finally got book two out in my Legacy Series out today! I'm looking forward to people reviewing it. I think it's a good deal better than anything I have previously written.

I keep coming back to this thread, it helps me stay sane on days where I'm thinking about how much I still need to do.


----------



## T S Paul

CarmenShea said:


> That could actually be it! Now that I think about it, whenever I don't have a lot of time (aka when I only have my phone to read on) but still want to read something I search my goodreads and organise by page size and go for the shortest ones first XD


Yeah, my 2nd book, also a shorty went live last night. Its jumped up to #12 on the sci fi short reads list. The first one is still doing strong. Its still funny to do so well with such short books


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

scott2218 said:


> Yeah, my 2nd book, also a shorty went live last night. Its jumped up to #12 on the sci fi short reads list. The first one is still doing strong. Its still funny to do so well with such short books


Sounds like you are knocking it out of the park with book one. Are they part of a series?


----------



## T S Paul

Yes, a sci fi series. Calling it the "Athena Lee Chronicles". I have up to book 5 sort of plotted out. Beyond that? May do something else


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ah...first book in my new miniseries finished.   

Tomorrow, back to work on part two.


----------



## CarmenShea

Hey guys, if you can would you check out my Thunderclap Campaign and consider supporting it? Just trying to get the word out about my novel to as many people as I can as my own social media reach right now isn't all that great


----------



## JTriptych

So I put my newest book on perma-free and wide...

And within 2 days I got 11 downloads from B&N, which is a surprise because I didn't put any ads nor are any of my other books wide outside of Amazon...

And a whopping 90 downloads from Smashwords?! That can't be right! Can it?


----------



## Matthew Stott

JTriptych said:


> So I put my newest book on perma-free and wide...
> 
> And within 2 days I got 11 downloads from B&N, which is a surprise because I didn't put any ads nor are any of my other books wide outside of Amazon...
> 
> And a whopping 90 downloads from Smashwords?! That can't be right! Can it?


Hey, don't fight it! 

That's awesome, well done.


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

JTriptych said:


> So I put my newest book on perma-free and wide...
> 
> And within 2 days I got 11 downloads from B&N, which is a surprise because I didn't put any ads nor are any of my other books wide outside of Amazon...
> 
> And a whopping 90 downloads from Smashwords?! That can't be right! Can it?


Interested to see how you do. What's the idea behind making the second (1.5) book free? Would making the first book free make more sense?


----------



## JTriptych

Matthew Stott said:


> Hey, don't fight it!
> 
> That's awesome, well done.


LOL thanks, Matt. I'm not really fighting it, I'm just surprised since I thought I would have more downloads on Amazon since I have three books out there as opposed to just one on SW so Im curious as to what's driving it. Is SW promoting my book, or is it a third party, or something else entirely? I need to find out. 



geraldmkilby said:


> Interested to see how you do. What's the idea behind making the second (1.5) book free? Would making the first book free make more sense?


Hi Gerald. I wrote Book 1.5 specifically as a perma free book, it's a lot shorter at 40K words as opposed to 120K on Book 1 and its designed purely to increase my mailing list (the sequel to it is Book 2.5 and can only be accessed by joining my list). Book 1.5 is also geared towards a more mainstream audience because Book 1 has got some controversial aspects to it so it may not be everyone's cup of tea. But who knows, I may experiment some more by possibly making Book 1 free in the future as well, once I put up more books in the series (Book 2 is pretty much done and will be out in a month or two). So at this point anything is possible.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Gah! Blooming Bookbub. I got one first time out, when I didn't expect to, and now, when I have more books out and it might do me a lot more good, the suckers keep turning me down!  
Ah well, time to mark up the dates when I can resubmit...!
It would be great if Bookbub had some serious competition; even one other promo place that was comparable that you could also try to bag.


----------



## Bbates024

I'd love to get one of those mystical book bub things. 

So Jar of Souls launched last week. It's been chugging along the lowest it his so far was 12k in the paid store. I'd really like to see it get lower, but what I have been surprised about is how many page reads and sales it drove back to book one. It hasn't quite been the success that Arena was making it down to 1100 overall but I hope it keeps to pick up momentum. I have a new cover for Arena to reveal after I get a re-write done on it. The book was the first thing I wrote and it's a little bit behind my other works your first book in a series needs to shine so I am sinking some more effort and money into it. I think it will be worth it in the end.

I'm also planning on doing my first free promotion ever for Arena after I have the changes compleated. I'm going to try and time it for May or June when i have book three ready to launch. I hope the first free promo, along with the new cover and re-write will drive people into the rest of the series.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Oof-

-Just requested my subscription to Nick Stephenson's course be cancelled. I never actually got around to taking the course itself, so hopefully that'll be fine. It's an expensive business this, especially when you're not at the point where you're making much back, and I'm already beating my credit card to death over the next few months with cover and editing charges, I just couldn't justify the extra £50 a month.

I'd like to have seen the course though, but right now covers and editing seem a better use of my money.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Bbates024 said:


> I'd love to get one of those mystical book bub things.


They are mighty sweet! I suppose all we can do is keep knocking at the Bookbub door and begging to be let inside...!


----------



## Bbates024

Matthew Stott said:


> They are mighty sweet! I suppose all we can do is keep knocking at the Bookbub door and begging to be let inside...!


True that. One of these days they will let me in, I hope!

I know it's much harder to get when your Amazon exclusive, but I still really want one.


----------



## CarmenShea

Hey guys,

Launching my debut novel tomorrow (omg freaking out) but still looking to get a dozen more supporters before then to help promote it!

If you can, please check out my Thunderclap: http://thndr.me/WUjlbu

I'll willingly return support if you have your own campaign either now or in the future!


----------



## Adair Hart

Lukeofkondor said:


> Great work!
> 
> My book 2 went live today. It's a good feeling


Congratulations Luke! Love the titles on your books!



Matthew Stott said:


> Oof-
> 
> -Just requested my subscription to Nick Stephenson's course be cancelled. I never actually got around to taking the course itself, so hopefully that'll be fine. It's an expensive business this, especially when you're not at the point where you're making much back, and I'm already beating my credit card to death over the next few months with cover and editing charges, I just couldn't justify the extra £50 a month.
> 
> I'd like to have seen the course though, but right now covers and editing seem a better use of my money.


I hear yas on that. I have Mark Dawson's course still on charge, so feel that pain. Still, it's excellent information and a lot to pour through. I only have about 75% of that course done, so I need to stop slacking!



Bbates024 said:


> I'd love to get one of those mystical book bub things.
> 
> So Jar of Souls launched last week. It's been chugging along the lowest it his so far was 12k in the paid store. I'd really like to see it get lower, but what I have been surprised about is how many page reads and sales it drove back to book one. It hasn't quite been the success that Arena was making it down to 1100 overall but I hope it keeps to pick up momentum. I have a new cover for Arena to reveal after I get a re-write done on it. The book was the first thing I wrote and it's a little bit behind my other works your first book in a series needs to shine so I am sinking some more effort and money into it. I think it will be worth it in the end.
> 
> I'm also planning on doing my first free promotion ever for Arena after I have the changes compleated. I'm going to try and time it for May or June when i have book three ready to launch. I hope the first free promo, along with the new cover and re-write will drive people into the rest of the series.


Awesome man! Love your covers. I think your free promotion will do well. I have found them to be great drivers so far. You planning on doing a five day free promotion, or going to stagger it out?


----------



## T S Paul

I just sent my newest book, book 3, live a few minutes ago. I was going to wait until next weekend, but it was ready. So why not.


----------



## CM Raymond

CarmenShea said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Launching my debut novel tomorrow (omg freaking out) but still looking to get a dozen more supporters before then to help promote it!
> 
> If you can, please check out my Thunderclap: http://thndr.me/WUjlbu
> 
> I'll willingly return support if you have your own campaign either now or in the future!


How'd it go, Carmen?


----------



## Bbates024

Adair Hart said:


> Awesome man! Love your covers. I think your free promotion will do well. I have found them to be great drivers so far. You planning on doing a five day free promotion, or going to stagger it out?


I'm going to go the full free five days, and get as many advertisers lined up as I can. The book hasn't been free before so I think it could be a big. With a new cover and book one getting another re-write pass, and another editing pass I feel confident it will bring readers into the rest of the series.

On a really positive note Jar of Souls (book 2) has started to do really well. Today I hit my best ranking since launch 6878 and that's with zero advertising since launch. on March 3rd. Even better is book one has been getting some page reads and sales to go along with it. I can't wait to get book three out there, and get the promotion going.

I'm also wrapping up, Night of the Demon book three in my origins series. That series has never done as well as the Legacy series, but I'm hoping the book will make a small profit.

Anyway. things are going really well and I think My goal of eight books out this year is still posable. 2-3 in my pen name, Night of the Demon, Jar of Souls followed by 2-4 more in that series and maybe a new series to start.

haha they tell me just keep writing, and well I aim to do just that!


----------



## KeraEmory

My debut novel launches tomorrow. One of my beta readers left me a lovely review on Goodreads, but otherwise I am starting 100% cold, from scratch, four people on my mailing list, and I have no idea when Amazon will actually fill in my Look Inside. 

Any positive vibes appreciated.


----------



## Bbates024

KeraEmory said:


> My debut novel launches tomorrow. One of my beta readers left me a lovely review on Goodreads, but otherwise I am starting 100% cold, from scratch, four people on my mailing list, and I have no idea when Amazon will actually fill in my Look Inside.
> 
> Any positive vibes appreciated.


Good vibes sent out into the verse.

The look inside normally takes a while once the book goes live. I would expect 12 hours or so in it will be ready to go.

Good luck.

I know with my first book that had any stickyness it took a few days and then it just started growing.


----------



## KeraEmory

Bbates024 said:


> Good vibes sent out into the verse.
> 
> The look inside normally takes a while once the book goes live. I would expect 12 hours or so in it will be ready to go.
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> I know with my first book that had any stickyness it took a few days and then it just started growing.


Thanks!

Yeah, I think I made a tactical error and booked a few (cheap) promos for tomorrow. Setting aside the fact that some people say there's no point promo'ing your first book, I didn't realize back when I booked that the Look Inside would probably not be live by the time mailing lists go out. :/ (I assume 12 hours = 12 hours from midnight PST, therefore 3pm EST if I'm lucky.)

Does anyone know if pre-order books go live right at midnight PST, or ...?


----------



## KeraEmory

Oh hey! Two things:

1. My pre-order on iBooks went live! 

2. My Look Inside content on Amazon just went live!


----------



## JTriptych

KeraEmory said:


> Oh hey! Two things:
> 
> 1. My pre-order on iBooks went live!
> 
> 2. My Look Inside content on Amazon just went live!


Congrats and good luck to you. I think the best way to get over the jitters is to start writing your next book already- things only get better after that.


----------



## Bbates024

Also there is nothing wrong with booking promos early.

I just like to give it a little time before doing it to see if people start gravitating to it naturally.

One the series gets rolling then promos are a big deal.


----------



## barryjhutchison

KeraEmory said:


> Oh hey! Two things:
> 
> 1. My pre-order on iBooks went live!
> 
> 2. My Look Inside content on Amazon just went live!


Your first page hooked me - well done! Just bought on Amazon UK. Good luck!


----------



## KeraEmory

barryjhutchison said:


> Your first page hooked me - well done! Just bought on Amazon UK. Good luck!


Thank you, that's unbelievably kind.


----------



## CM Raymond

KeraEmory said:


> Oh hey! Two things:
> 
> 1. My pre-order on iBooks went live!
> 
> 2. My Look Inside content on Amazon just went live!


Nice!


----------



## Adair Hart

KeraEmory said:


> Oh hey! Two things:
> 
> 1. My pre-order on iBooks went live!
> 
> 2. My Look Inside content on Amazon just went live!


Sending good vibes! Good Luck , Kera!


----------



## KeraEmory

Thanks again, folks!


----------



## spellscribe

Assuming nothing goes horribly wrong, Barrow Fiend should be complete (and sent for copy edits, so not *done* but close enough) by bed time. 

It'll be a huge relief as she asked to have it by the 13th so she could guarantee it'd be done by my requested date. I sent the first 13 chapters so her schedule shouldn't be affected but my gods, it's been a tough week!

I feel like this is a turning point. My 3rd book will be written via a different process, with a full outline and by editing each chapter as I go. I hope to hae it out 90 days after book 2, and I should be partially wide by then too. 

My list is slowly growing and though my sales tanked the moment I went from 99c to 2.99, I'm still getting a few reads and some really amazing comments, reviews and emails about the books. 

I'm trying not to get my hopes up. It's only my first series and book 1 is ranked in the millions now. Still, that hope is there, and it's strong. 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## Bbates024

Spellscribe thta is just awesome. Good luck with the launch!


----------



## spellscribe

Thanks Becca  

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## KeraEmory

Cracked top 100 on a few categories, including suspense/supernatural, and moved way more units than I expected to on day one. Now to see if it "sticks". 

Barry, if you see this, I think of you fondly every time I see my one GBP purchase.


----------



## barryjhutchison

KeraEmory said:


> Cracked top 100 on a few categories, including suspense/supernatural, and moved way more units than I expected to on day one. Now to see if it "sticks".
> 
> Barry, if you see this, I think of you fondly every time I see my one GBP purchase.


That's great (about the top 100, the shifting more units AND me being thought of fondly). I've got a couple of books to rattle through this week, but will try to get you a review ASAP.


----------



## KeraEmory

barryjhutchison said:


> That's great (about the top 100, the shifting more units AND me being thought of fondly). I've got a couple of books to rattle through this week, but will try to get you a review ASAP.


Once again, that is super kind of you.  If you have time, great, if not, that's cool too.

Edit: And I dug you up on Twitter.


----------



## barryjhutchison

KeraEmory said:


> Once again, that is super kind of you.  If you have time, great, if not, that's cool too.
> 
> Edit: And I dug you up on Twitter.


Cool! What's your Twitter name?


----------



## KeraEmory

barryjhutchison said:


> Cool! What's your Twitter name?


@keraemory

Obviously the last few days have been pretty promo-intense, but I occasionally tweet about scripted television and other random stuff.


----------



## barryjhutchison

KeraEmory said:


> @keraemory
> 
> Obviously the last few days have been pretty promo-intense, but I occasionally tweet about scripted television and other random stuff.


I've just followed you. I found out yesterday that I'm through to the shortlist for The Red Planet Prize, which is a TV drama writing competition here in the UK. To enter, you had to submit the first ten pages of a script, plus an outline. Now that I'm through to the next stage I have to submit the full 60 minute script. Really pleased to get through, but sort of told a bit of a fib when I said the script was complete. I now have until the 29th of March to finish it!


----------



## William Collins.

Hey everyone, I'm completely lost with how to use Mailchimp. I've got an account, but I'm struggling with the create a campaign stuff etc.

I haven't been able to find any good online tutorials either. Does anyone have any advice, or a good link that explains it all? 

Thanks a lot.


----------



## Guest

Their own docs are pretty good, though sometimes easier to find via Google than their page 

http://mailchimp.com/resources/guides/getting-started-with-mailchimp/html/

Is a good starting point


----------



## KeraEmory

barryjhutchison said:


> I've just followed you. I found out yesterday that I'm through to the shortlist for The Red Planet Prize, which is a TV drama writing competition here in the UK. To enter, you had to submit the first ten pages of a script, plus an outline. Now that I'm through to the next stage I have to submit the full 60 minute script. Really pleased to get through, but sort of told a bit of a fib when I said the script was complete. I now have until the 29th of March to finish it!


Uh oh. Heat is on!

If you need someone to bounce it off of, I 1) watch an INSANE amount of scripted television and have a good ear for dialogue, 2) watch a fair amount of *UK* television. (Sincere offer!)

Grats!


----------



## William Collins.

Thank you Anma, I'll check that link out.


----------



## CM Raymond

KeraEmory said:


> @keraemory


Other newbies want to share their twitter handles?? Love to follow and work some crosspromotion.

Mine is @_cmraymond_ and my collaborator is @LEBarbant (he's a lurker)


----------



## Mari Oliver

Sure. Mine is @mythobooks and I tweet about mythology and vintage things I find interesting if anyone likes that sort of stuff.


----------



## KeraEmory

CM Raymond said:


> Other newbies want to share their twitter handles?? Love to follow and work some crosspromotion.
> 
> Mine is @_cmraymond_ and my collaborator is @LEBarbant (he's a lurker)


Hah, I saw you on twitter before I saw the updates to the thread, and I couldn't figure out if you were a 'real' person or not (so far I haven't gained any 'organic' followers from the book). 

Also, I've always admired your Spinal Tap avatar. 

Followed Mari as well.

As I said upthread, I'm promo'ing a lot this week and talking about stuff related to the book, since it's launch week. But I do genuinely enjoy the occasional top-of-head tweet, and if I retweet something it's because it's something I'm directly interested in. TLR, my account isn't just an ad-bot. 

Edit: To add some actual stats, my sales dropped off dramatically today. I ran a couple of promos yesterday including bknights and bargain booksy. (I think.) Today was just pretty-hot, and they used an older version of my cover after assuring me they would update to the new one. >.> I have a few more 'premium' promos coming up in the next week or two. The thing that still has me biting my nails is that while I've gotten good feedback from people about being hooked by the beginning of the book, I still have no organic reviews. But ... it's a 100k word novel, and it's only been one day. I also 'applied' for ENT but haven't heard back yet.

Looking at my records, I paid $25 for pretty-hot, and it doesn't seem to have done much compared to the one-two punch of bknights and bargain booksy.


----------



## spellscribe

I'm at http://twitter.com/spellscribe but I have a no link spam rule 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## CM Raymond

KeraEmory said:


> Also, I've always admired your Spinal Tap avatar.


Someone messaged and asked if it was a pic of me.

I answered: "I wish."


----------



## barryjhutchison

KeraEmory said:


> Uh oh. Heat is on!
> 
> If you need someone to bounce it off of, I 1) watch an INSANE amount of scripted television and have a good ear for dialogue, 2) watch a fair amount of *UK* television. (Sincere offer!)
> 
> Grats!


That's very kind of you, thanks for the offer. Should I get it anywhere even close to finished, I'll take you up on that.


----------



## Ainsley

The second episode to my serial has just been released!  I released the first without telling anyone really a few months as I was too focused on just figuring out the nuts and bolts of KDP. I'm a little worried about not really having eye-catching covers (especially given the genre), but the price was right (I made them myself). After I publish all the episodes I'll re-evaluate. But for right now I'm just excited to have my first work out there! Thanks Kboards!


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

Amazing. My new book went live yesterday and already got a 4* review. It took me months to get any organic rewiews with the first one. I hope this means good things


----------



## JTriptych

geraldmkilby said:


> Amazing. My new book went live yesterday and already got a 4* review. It took me months to get any organic rewiews with the first one. I hope this means good things


Well done, the old adage of write more books seems to work for us all!


----------



## T S Paul

I guess I'm not really a Newbie anymore. My mentor says  I've "Passed" the class. Today is my 1 month on amazon anniversary. 1st time writer too. If my HS and college English teachers could see this they would cry out in horror. Me publishing. LOL.  So I have three books out on Amazon. In a month. Two are on the BS list, I got my little orange tag this evening. Sales have been pretty good until I  released book 3 on Sunday.  Now they are like a missile. Kenp is averaging in the 3500 range and daily sales around 25 + .  I have a fourth book coming out on Sunday and just started another. So much for the average C english student.  Just had to tell someone, other than family, they don't really get it..


----------



## JTriptych

scott2218 said:


> I guess I'm not really a Newbie anymore. My mentor says I've "Passed" the class. Today is my 1 month on amazon anniversary. 1st time writer too. If my HS and college English teachers could see this they would cry out in horror. Me publishing. LOL. So I have three books out on Amazon. In a month. Two are on the BS list, I got my little orange tag this evening. Sales have been pretty good until I released book 3 on Sunday. Now they are like a missile. Kenp is averaging in the 3500 range and daily sales around 25 + . I have a fourth book coming out on Sunday and just started another. So much for the average C english student. Just had to tell someone, other than family, they don't really get it..


Congrats! There's definitely a market for sci-fi stories so youve hit the sweet spot.


----------



## CM Raymond

scott2218 said:


> I guess I'm not really a Newbie anymore. My mentor says I've "Passed" the class. Today is my 1 month on amazon anniversary. 1st time writer too. If my HS and college English teachers could see this they would cry out in horror. Me publishing. LOL. So I have three books out on Amazon. In a month. Two are on the BS list, I got my little orange tag this evening. Sales have been pretty good until I released book 3 on Sunday. Now they are like a missile. Kenp is averaging in the 3500 range and daily sales around 25 + . I have a fourth book coming out on Sunday and just started another. So much for the average C english student. Just had to tell someone, other than family, they don't really get it..


Nice work, Scott. So, you held them back?

Want to share a bit on your strategy.


----------



## T S Paul

CM Raymond said:


> Nice work, Scott. So, you held them back?
> 
> Want to share a bit on your strategy.


LMAO! No holding back here. I wrote the first one 2 wks before it went up. Wrote straight into book and posted it. 3rd book the same way. The only thing I'm holding back is the new one. It was a combo of dynamite covers and right book right time. Short fiction that is sci-fi marketed to YA and adults. Mostly clean reads no sex, very little bad language. One reader called them an"Old fashioned space adventure". The newest one has a bit more edge to it. All are complete reads, even thought its a series.


----------



## CM Raymond

scott2218 said:


> LMAO! No holding back here. I wrote the first one 2 wks before it went up. Wrote straight into book and posted it. 3rd book the same way. The only thing I'm holding back is the new one. It was a combo of dynamite covers and right book right time. Short fiction that is sci-fi marketed to YA and adults. Mostly clean reads no sex, very little bad language. One reader called them an"Old fashioned space adventure". The newest one has a bit more edge to it. All are complete reads, even thought its a series.


Great job! I'm going to pick it up for my daughter and I to read together. Not sure if I can get her into space adventure, but maybe.


----------



## T S Paul

CM Raymond said:


> Great job! I'm going to pick it up for my daughter and I to read together. Not sure if I can get her into space adventure, but maybe.


I have a countdown deal for book 1 on sunday, get it for .99 cents or wait for the new one. Its the Trilogy of all three and yes it will be on KU. That goes up on Sat evening for Sunday sales. Thanks


----------



## spellscribe

scott2218 said:


> I guess I'm not really a Newbie anymore. My mentor says I've "Passed" the class. Today is my 1 month on amazon anniversary. 1st time writer too. If my HS and college English teachers could see this they would cry out in horror. Me publishing. LOL. So I have three books out on Amazon. In a month. Two are on the BS list, I got my little orange tag this evening. Sales have been pretty good until I released book 3 on Sunday. Now they are like a missile. Kenp is averaging in the 3500 range and daily sales around 25 + . I have a fourth book coming out on Sunday and just started another. So much for the average C english student. Just had to tell someone, other than family, they don't really get it..


Damn, Scott! You pass Kindle class with honors and extra credit 

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Great job, Gerald and Scott! 

Here's a little anecdote that might inspire some. The moral is "Do good and (possibly) do well."

I have lavished much love and care and funding on my debut novel, grateful that a little inheritance from my mother (who gave me the antique journal the novel is based on) enabled me to "take off" from my usual online teaching this year to write it. My sales are slow but trickling along, with a heartening uptick every couple of weeks. I'm ok with just settling in with that as I write the next one.

But when I asked a favor (a reproduction of a single page in an expensive family history) of an author via email, his widow gladly sent me a copy of the big hardback ($55 on Ebay!). The book was quite useful in my work, more than just in that one page I wanted. So last week I wrapped up one of my first paperbacks to send to her as a thank-you. Her daughter wrote me yesterday to say that her (elderly) mom was reading it and had directed her to buy five copies for all the children. That was a good ROI, don't you think? ;-)


----------



## barryjhutchison

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Great job, Gerald and Scott!
> 
> Here's a little anecdote that might inspire some. The moral is "Do good and (possibly) do well."
> 
> I have lavished much love and care and funding on my debut novel, grateful that a little inheritance from my mother (who gave me the antique journal the novel is based on) enabled me to "take off" from my usual online teaching this year to write it. My sales are slow but trickling along, with a heartening uptick every couple of weeks. I'm ok with just settling in with that as I write the next one.
> 
> But when I asked a favor (a reproduction of a single page in an expensive family history) of an author via email, his widow gladly sent me a copy of the big hardback ($55 on Ebay!). The book was quite useful in my work, more than just in that one page I wanted. So last week I wrapped up one of my first paperbacks to send to her as a thank-you. Her daughter wrote me yesterday to say that her (elderly) mom was reading it and had directed her to buy five copies for all the children. That was a good ROI, don't you think? ;-)


Wow, beautiful story! That's what it's all about 

Apart from all the money and speedboats, obviously.


----------



## Antara Mann

KeraEmory said:


> Hah, I saw you on twitter before I saw the updates to the thread, and I couldn't figure out if you were a 'real' person or not (so far I haven't gained any 'organic' followers from the book).
> 
> Also, I've always admired your Spinal Tap avatar.
> 
> Followed Mari as well.
> 
> As I said upthread, I'm promo'ing a lot this week and talking about stuff related to the book, since it's launch week. But I do genuinely enjoy the occasional top-of-head tweet, and if I retweet something it's because it's something I'm directly interested in. TLR, my account isn't just an ad-bot.
> 
> Edit: To add some actual stats, my sales dropped off dramatically today. I ran a couple of promos yesterday including bknights and bargain booksy. (I think.) Today was just pretty-hot, and they used an older version of my cover after assuring me they would update to the new one. >.> I have a few more 'premium' promos coming up in the next week or two. The thing that still has me biting my nails is that while I've gotten good feedback from people about being hooked by the beginning of the book, I still have no organic reviews. But ... it's a 100k word novel, and it's only been one day. I also 'applied' for ENT but haven't heard back yet.
> 
> Looking at my records, I paid $25 for pretty-hot, and it doesn't seem to have done much compared to the one-two punch of bknights and bargain booksy.


Yes, some of the promo are lackluster like pretty-hot; can you find some bloggers to review your book or Amazon top reviewers? I know it's daunting when you don't have an ART but it's worth the hustle to build an ART.
Good luck! I'll follow some of your Twitter accounts, folks, it's always good to have other authors in your following.


----------



## KeraEmory

Antara Mann said:


> Yes, some of the promo are lackluster like pretty-hot; can you find some bloggers to review your book or Amazon top reviewers? I know it's daunting when you don't have an ART but it's worth the hustle to build an ART.
> Good luck! I'll follow some of your Twitter accounts, folks, it's always good to have other authors in your following.


I'm not 100% sure how to find bloggers to beg for reviews.  I did contact one reviewer on this site a few weeks ago:

https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/book-reviews/

But didn't hear back.

(I find that in examining my retail ethics, I hate seeing those words "I received this product in exchange for a fair and unbiased review" when I'm shopping for non-book items on Amazon, so I'm not interested in that route.)

And thanks!

UPDATE: Hit up some more reviewers on that list with tailored emails.


----------



## Mari Oliver

Right on Kera! Hey, I read about your newbie blues in another thread and I just wanted to say that you're doing your best and that's what counts. I think we newbies often get starry eyes and believe it's going to be hella easy to get on bestseller lists and sell a lot of copies when in reality, building a career out of this takes time. A lot of time. And patience. I haven't sold a book in over a month and after a few teary sessions, I've had the talk with myself "Now, you know this is what you want to do forever right? So get back to writing!".

And that's the key. Is to keep writing no matter what happens. Years from now it will all have paid off when we've done our best to put a lot of good books we can out there and continue growing/learning our craft. It takes time to build a back list. You want to be able to send your readers to more books and with only 1 or 2, they're not going to stick around however long it takes for another one of our books to come out. Focus on growing your list of books as well as names. You WILL get there with persistence, patience, and a lot of love for writing.


----------



## KeraEmory

Vintage Mari said:


> Right on Kera! Hey, I read about your newbie blues in another thread and I just wanted to say that you're doing your best and that's what counts. I think we newbies often get starry eyes and believe it's going to be hella easy to get on bestseller lists and sell a lot of copies when in reality, building a career out of this takes time. A lot of time. And patience. I haven't sold a book in over a month and after a few teary sessions, I've had the talk with myself "Now, you know this is what you want to do forever right? So get back to writing!".
> 
> And that's the key. Is to keep writing no matter what happens. Years from now it will all have paid off when we've done our best to put a lot of good books we can out there and continue growing/learning our craft. It takes time to build a back list. You want to be able to send your readers to more books and with only 1 or 2, they're not going to stick around however long it takes for another one of our books to come out. Focus on growing your list of books as well as names. You WILL get there with persistence, patience, and a lot of love for writing.


Thanks. You're absolutely right. And I'm being insanely, irrationally impatient. (We are now on day four. Day. FOUR.) And yes, it's a constant battle to not let the 'publishing stress' crap get so far inside my head that I can't actually write. (I'm getting a few 'sprints' done on my current novella each morning, before the neurosis kicks in for the day.)

(Actually making organic connection with people here on kboards has been really rewarding. )


----------



## JTriptych

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Great job, Gerald and Scott!
> 
> Here's a little anecdote that might inspire some. The moral is "Do good and (possibly) do well."
> 
> I have lavished much love and care and funding on my debut novel, grateful that a little inheritance from my mother (who gave me the antique journal the novel is based on) enabled me to "take off" from my usual online teaching this year to write it. My sales are slow but trickling along, with a heartening uptick every couple of weeks. I'm ok with just settling in with that as I write the next one.
> 
> But when I asked a favor (a reproduction of a single page in an expensive family history) of an author via email, his widow gladly sent me a copy of the big hardback ($55 on Ebay!). The book was quite useful in my work, more than just in that one page I wanted. So last week I wrapped up one of my first paperbacks to send to her as a thank-you. Her daughter wrote me yesterday to say that her (elderly) mom was reading it and had directed her to buy five copies for all the children. That was a good ROI, don't you think? ;-)


Excellent anecdote and a well deserved multiple sale. Looks like you have several fans for life. 



KeraEmory said:


> I'm not 100% sure how to find bloggers to beg for reviews.  I did contact one reviewer on this site a few weeks ago:
> 
> https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/book-reviews/
> 
> But didn't hear back.
> 
> (I find that in examining my retail ethics, I hate seeing those words "I received this product in exchange for a fair and unbiased review" when I'm shopping for non-book items on Amazon, so I'm not interested in that route.)
> 
> And thanks!
> 
> UPDATE: Hit up some more reviewers on that list with tailored emails.


You might find this list useful, just check out their blogs to see if they review your genre and write them a proposal email to see if they are willing to review your book. From my experience its about 1 in 15 tries that they will respond.

http://www.theindieview.com/indie-reviewers/


----------



## KeraEmory

JTriptych said:


> You might find this list useful, just check out their blogs to see if they review your genre and write them a proposal email to see if they are willing to review your book. From my experience its about 1 in 15 tries that they will respond.
> 
> http://www.theindieview.com/indie-reviewers/


Thanks, checking it out. My brain's already in 'query/beg' mode, so might as well do another push. 

UPDATE: Oof, sad to say that list has a lot of 404s, 'this blog is invite-only', and 'we are closed for submissions'.


----------



## JaclynDolamore

Another newbie here...was traditionally published before, but I'm mostly starting from scratch.

I had some decent luck with reviews by contacting bloggers who reviewed indie books on Amazon similar to mine. I got a really nice Amazon review that way and a few more on Goodreads...they're still trickling in. I also got one from a LibraryThing giveaway. The rest have come from a 1-month NetGalley Co-Op.

(Most of this was suggested to me by Megan Crewe, who also hangs around here...luckily she was doing her indie thing a bit ahead of me!)


----------



## Antara Mann

KeraEmory said:


> I'm not 100% sure how to find bloggers to beg for reviews.  I did contact one reviewer on this site a few weeks ago:
> 
> https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/book-reviews/
> 
> But didn't hear back.
> 
> (I find that in examining my retail ethics, I hate seeing those words "I received this product in exchange for a fair and unbiased review" when I'm shopping for non-book items on Amazon, so I'm not interested in that route.)
> 
> And thanks!
> 
> UPDATE: Hit up some more reviewers on that list with tailored emails.


For a start, you can begin here: http://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers but it's very daunting or you can post on specific Goodreads groups about reviewers and ARC. Another possibility is to use AMC's review grabber but you haev to become a prime member. However, if you pm me, I could offer you something. Just don't want to be public. 
Good luck!


----------



## JTriptych

KeraEmory said:


> Thanks, checking it out. My brain's already in 'query/beg' mode, so might as well do another push.
> 
> UPDATE: Oof, sad to say that list has a lot of 404s, 'this blog is invite-only', and 'we are closed for submissions'.


Yeah you may have to go through a bunch, it took me a whole day to get through and email the entire list.

Also, try the ones in the latest reviews section:

http://www.theindieview.com/latest-indie-book-reviews-from-around-the-web/

Since these bloggers just posted a review, it would mean that they are active and they may have a free slot now that they finished reviewing another book. You ought to get a faster response from them.


----------



## Bbates024

I know reviews are a pretty big deal, but I wouldn't stress over them. once you get your first ten you can get picked up for advertising almost anywhere(except maybe Bookbub). I only have twenty reviews on my highest seller and I moved about 600 copies of it and probably doubled that or tripled in page reads. I recently signed up for a review service and I'll let you know how it goes. I wasn't expecting much from it and frankly if I get two more reviews it will be worth it but I'm not too worried. When i launched the second book in the series it did well right away and didn't have any reviews to start it now has 2.

I think in the future it would be awesome to get some reviews before the book launches just to see how that effects day one sales and preorders. I'm more worried about getting it in front of readers than I am about getting reviews. When you see most of the books out there that are doing really well review wise, it's because they have been out for years and probably given away 30k plus copies more than once on a Bookbub freebie.

Don't stress if you have a good product and can get it in front of a few people it will do it's own thing. Covers and blurbs are a must.


----------



## JTriptych

So I took almost all of my books off KU since I wasnt get much page reads anyway and...

Two days after I made the Glooming go wide... I got my first paid sale outside of Amazon! From Smashwords!  

But ... I got a two star review for my other book on SW- and the reviewer said he gave it two stars because he didnt finish reading it due to the fact that it was part of a series and it wasn't a stand alone book. Yet if he bothered to read the blurb it would have explained that it was indeed a stand alone book and still part of the series!  

I guess you just cant win 'em all.


----------



## Mari Oliver

Right on, JT! I was wishing last night that I hadn't stuck my western romance shorts in KU but OH WELL lesson learned. I'm currently writing a fantasy novel that will mos def not go in KU. Thinking D2D to hit up Apple and then do B&N and Kobo. I'd like to eventually do print and my husband said that he'd do it for me but I'm unsure at this time when to do it. All of this publishing gig is starting slowly for me...basically I've tiptoed in lol.


----------



## JTriptych

Vintage Mari said:


> Right on, JT! I was wishing last night that I hadn't stuck my western romance shorts in KU but OH WELL lesson learned. I'm currently writing a fantasy novel that will mos def not go in KU. Thinking D2D to hit up Apple and then do B&N and Kobo. I'd like to eventually do print and my husband said that he'd do it for me but I'm unsure at this time when to do it. All of this publishing gig is starting slowly for me...basically I've tiptoed in lol.


Go for it, VM! If you go wide then use every channel you can get your hands on since its free to do it anyway. If you dont have a Google Play account you can use Streetlib to get into it for you.


----------



## Antara Mann

Mari - whenever you can go direct, do it. D2D are very prompt, polite etc but eat 10% of your earnings. YMMV but serials in general perform better in KU. Wishing you good luck and eager to find how it does for you outside of Select.


----------



## Mari Oliver

Antara Mann said:


> Mari - whenever you can go direct, do it. D2D are very prompt, polite etc but eat 10% of your earnings. YMMV but serials in general perform better in KU. Wishing you good luck and eager to find how it does for you outside of Select.


Thank you. And you're absolutely right about that. The only reason I want to use them for Apple is because I don't have access to a Mac so I'm okay with that. I've been looking up other sites besides the ones mentioned and do have a Google Play account but I thought that they weren't accepting Indies anymore...? Anyone know the status on that?


----------



## Adair Hart

JTriptych said:


> So I took almost all of my books off KU since I wasnt get much page reads anyway and...
> 
> Two days after I made the Glooming go wide... I got my first paid sale outside of Amazon! From Smashwords!
> 
> But ... I got a two star review for my other book on SW- and the reviewer said he gave it two stars because he didnt finish reading it due to the fact that it was part of a series and it wasn't a stand alone book. Yet if he bothered to read the blurb it would have explained that it was indeed a stand alone book and still part of the series!
> 
> I guess you just cant win 'em all.


That sucks, JT  On the other hand, if anyone reads that, they might purchase it since it is a part of a series.

In regards to prawny launches, I released my reader magnet prequel novella, The Arrival, today. It was interesting wrestling with mailchimp to set up the sequence of pages and testing, but got that working to tie into my facebook ads. Also setup Bookfunnel, my first time using it. It was pretty easy to setup. So far, the newsletter sent out yesterday to my mailing list has had about a third of subscribers pick it up. Bookfunnel has a pretty cool breakdown of what devices are being used. I'll be monitoring it daily to see how it performs and does.

Now I can focus completely on my third book, which if I hadn't been doing the reader magnet, would be coming out now. It's been three months since my second book launch, and I'm holding steady at around 1-2 sales a day between both books. I switched focus in December to the reader magnet because I think the mailing list is crucial, and when book three hits, I want it to be built up a bit, and also to get ARC readers. On the plus side, it is 2/3 done now. Ahh, never a slow time


----------



## Antara Mann

Vintage Mari said:


> Thank you. And you're absolutely right about that. The only reason I want to use them for Apple is because I don't have access to a Mac so I'm okay with that. I've been looking up other sites besides the ones mentioned and do have a Google Play account but I thought that they weren't accepting Indies anymore...? Anyone know the status on that?


Yes, Google aren't accepting any new authors. I subscribed to be alerted when they do but heard in a thread here that they aren't planning to accept new authors, anytime soon.
Yes, I don't haev a Mac either. There's one program for which you pay --virtual mac or something was called.It requires some learning curve, though. Another possibility is to ask someone to upload your books on Apple in exchange for a flat fee. For permafree titles, however, D2D is very good and free


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

Just wanted to share this with you guys.

My second book launched on the Zon a few days ago at 99c and the response has been amazing, for me at least. I sold over 60 copies in three days.  To put this in perspective, my first book sold just over 30 copies in the entire year. So, as you can imagine I'm dancing around. I even got a great review_ "Probably the best read I've had since "The Martian"._ It's ranked 7850, and 60 in Hard Science Fiction.

Just had to shout about to you all as you guys understand what it means for boosting motivation. Now.... on to the next one.


----------



## Christopher Kerns

Hello fellow newbies - 

I'm set to launch my first novel on Tuesday, March 29th on Amazon, in both Kindle and Createspace formats.

I've been reading that it takes a few days for Amazon to link the paperback and Kindle versions, and a few days for "look inside" to kick in as well. Is there a way of preloading both versions so that they will be linked and "look inside"-ready on launch day?


----------



## CM Raymond

geraldmkilby said:


> Just wanted to share this with you guys.
> 
> My second book launched on the Zon a few days ago at 99c and the response has been amazing, for me at least. I sold over 60 copies in three days.  To put this in perspective, my first book sold just over 30 copies in the entire year. So, as you can imagine I'm dancing around. I even got a great review_ "Probably the best read I've had since "The Martian"._ It's ranked 7850, and 60 in Hard Science Fiction.
> 
> Just had to shout about to you all as you guys understand what it means for boosting motivation. Now.... on to the next one.


Keep dancing, Gerald!

Congrats. This is great news. Now let's wait until it gets into The Martians also boughts!


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

@CM Raymond Thanks 


Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk


----------



## JTriptych

Adair Hart said:


> In regards to prawny launches, I released my reader magnet prequel novella, The Arrival, today. It was interesting wrestling with mailchimp to set up the sequence of pages and testing, but got that working to tie into my facebook ads. Also setup Bookfunnel, my first time using it. It was pretty easy to setup. So far, the newsletter sent out yesterday to my mailing list has had about a third of subscribers pick it up. Bookfunnel has a pretty cool breakdown of what devices are being used. I'll be monitoring it daily to see how it performs and does.


Congrats on your new launch, Adair! This could put you over the top!

Question, instead of using Bookfunnel, could you send your stuff using Mailchimp's file manager to your subscribers instead? I am planning to write my second reader magnet book soon but since I dont have a monthly budget, I was hoping to just try and use Mailchimp to send the free ebook to my subscribers. What do you think about it?



geraldmkilby said:


> Just wanted to share this with you guys.
> 
> My second book launched on the Zon a few days ago at 99c and the response has been amazing, for me at least. I sold over 60 copies in three days.  To put this in perspective, my first book sold just over 30 copies in the entire year. So, as you can imagine I'm dancing around. I even got a great review_ "Probably the best read I've had since "The Martian"._ It's ranked 7850, and 60 in Hard Science Fiction.
> 
> Just had to shout about to you all as you guys understand what it means for boosting motivation. Now.... on to the next one.


Congrats and well done! I think you deserve kudos for your hard work!



Christopher Kerns said:


> Hello fellow newbies -
> 
> I'm set to launch my first novel on Tuesday, March 29th on Amazon, in both Kindle and Createspace formats.
> 
> I've been reading that it takes a few days for Amazon to link the paperback and Kindle versions, and a few days for "look inside" to kick in as well. Is there a way of preloading both versions so that they will be linked and "look inside"-ready on launch day?


Hi! From my experience, you can set up the print version on createspace and it will be out first while you set the ebook version on preorder. However there will be no "look inside" on your ebook preorder until it actually launches on the date you specify. Both editions usually link up after a few days so you can email KDP support if it doesnt by say around 3-4 days after you put both versions up.


----------



## Cherise

Christopher Kerns said:


> Hello fellow newbies -
> 
> I'm set to launch my first novel on Tuesday, March 29th on Amazon, in both Kindle and Createspace formats.
> 
> I've been reading that it takes a few days for Amazon to link the paperback and Kindle versions, and a few days for "look inside" to kick in as well. Is there a way of preloading both versions so that they will be linked and "look inside"-ready on launch day?


Sure. Upload both a week before your official launch day so that the Zon has a week to get them linked. Bear in mind though that your 30 day cliff countdown starts the day you publish, regardless of the day you officially launch.


----------



## CM Raymond

JTriptych said:


> Congrats on your new launch, Adair! This could put you over the top!
> 
> Question, instead of using Bookfunnel, could you send your stuff using Mailchimp's file manager to your subscribers instead? I am planning to write my second reader magnet book soon but since I dont have a monthly budget, I was hoping to just try and use Mailchimp to send the free ebook to my subscribers. What do you think about it?
> 
> Congrats and well done! I think you deserve kudos for your hard work!
> 
> Hi! From my experience, you can set up the print version on createspace and it will be out first while you set the ebook version on preorder. However there will be no "look inside" on your ebook preorder until it actually launches on the date you specify. Both editions usually link up after a few days so you can email KDP support if it doesnt by say around 3-4 days after you put both versions up.


I usually preempt this by sending the link request the second of the two kinds go live. It has helped in the past, and no one seems to mind. Though I have often seen people complain about KDP support, I've always found them to be really helpful.


----------



## Christopher Kerns

Cherise Kelley said:


> Sure. Upload both a week before your official launch day so that the Zon has a week to get them linked. Bear in mind though that your 30 day cliff countdown starts the day you publish, regardless of the day you officially launch.


Thanks, Cherise. The word "publish" above is getting to the heart of my question ... when I upload to the Zon system, does it allow me to set a future launch date, or is it already technically published as soon as it's uploaded?


----------



## lilywhite

CM Raymond said:


> I usually preempt this by sending the link request the second of the two kinds go live. It has helped in the past, and no one seems to mind. Though I have often seen people complain about KDP support, I've always found them to be really helpful.


They screw up sometimes, as will happen with any big company where the first-line peons don't always get the memo (or the power), but they are unfailingly polite and do their very best every time I have to contact them.


----------



## lilywhite

Christopher Kerns said:


> Thanks, Cherise. The word "publish" above is getting to the heart of my question ... when I upload to the Zon system, does it allow me to set a future launch date, or is it already technically published as soon as it's uploaded?


You can publish as a preorder, but there are timelines and rules and upload deadlines, and it's honest-to-God not worth it just to have the linkage a couple days sooner. I say this as a veteran of both smooth preorders and preorder disasters.


----------



## Christopher Kerns

lilywhite said:


> You can publish as a preorder, but there are timelines and rules and upload deadlines, and it's honest-to-God not worth it just to have the linkage a couple days sooner. I say this as a veteran of both smooth preorders and preorder disasters.


Great to know. Thanks!


----------



## Cherise

lilywhite said:


> You can publish as a preorder, but there are timelines and rules and upload deadlines, and it's honest-to-God* not worth it just to have the linkage a couple days sooner*. I say this as a veteran of both smooth preorders and preorder disasters.


What she said. You are already past the deadline to set up a pre-order for a March 29 launch date. Don't get me wrong. Pre-orders can be useful. Just not in this case.

Your Kindle book will publish roughly 12 hours after you upload it to Kindle Direct Publishing.

Your CreateSpace paperback will go through two rounds of approvals: the first when you upload it, and the second when you are given time to approve the proof. In order to expedite, you can proof electronically, approve when ready, and then order a copy of the approved book to proof in print with the idea that few copies will sell in the meantime and you can submit corrections as often as you like.


----------



## Adair Hart

JTriptych said:


> Congrats on your new launch, Adair! This could put you over the top!
> 
> Question, instead of using Bookfunnel, could you send your stuff using Mailchimp's file manager to your subscribers instead? I am planning to write my second reader magnet book soon but since I dont have a monthly budget, I was hoping to just try and use Mailchimp to send the free ebook to my subscribers. What do you think about it?
> 
> Congrats and well done! I think you deserve kudos for your hard work!


Thanks, JT! I don't expect much from this other than a mailing list increase that is steady and some sellthrough to Books 1 & 2. I have seen an increase in sales and page reads today on both books.

On Mailchimp file storage, I could use it, but one thing I didn't want to mess with is providing technical support for installation across multiple devices. I deal enough with that as part of my day job.  Bookfunnel handles that aspect and has a nice interface for guiding people through the installation. Pricing isn't too bad, 20$/yr for up to 500 books/month delivered. If, for some reason, the prequel novella goes ballistic and breaches 5000 downloads/month (the "mid-list" author package) at 100$/yr, then I would probably switch to mailchimp. If that were to occur, I suspect I would just list out the mailchimp links to the files on the confirmation thank you page instead of sending them to bookfunnel.


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## Matthew Stott

Heh; another Bookbub rejection. What I do to you, 'bub?   Lemme make it up to you!


----------



## Mare

Antara Mann said:


> Yes, Google aren't accepting any new authors. I subscribed to be alerted when they do but heard in a thread here that they aren't planning to accept new authors, anytime soon.
> Yes, I don't haev a Mac either. There's one program for which you pay --virtual mac or something was called.It requires some learning curve, though. Another possibility is to ask someone to upload your books on Apple in exchange for a flat fee. For permafree titles, however, D2D is very good and free


Ankara, it's not so much a learning curve with the Mac as it is just a 'difference' curve. I switched after using a PC for ten years, and I love the ease of using a Mac. I just had to get used to it being so simple.  Took about a week. I've been using Mac ever since. About eight years now. I have the desk top and a MacBook Pro. My daughter has had to buy four PCs in that time.


----------



## Bbates024

Matthew Stott said:


> Heh; another Bookbub rejection. What I do to you, 'bub?  Lemme make it up to you!


I hear that!

i have yet to get one, I'm not even going to try again until I get my third in the series out. One thing that makes it tough is they like books that are wide. I'd prefer to stay in KU. Personally, the pages reads make the difference between being close to doing this full time, and not having a shot at it.

Plus I love the little blue line


----------



## Matthew Stott

Bbates024 said:


> I hear that!
> 
> i have yet to get one, I'm not even going to try again until I get my third in the series out. One thing that makes it tough is they like books that are wide. I'd prefer to stay in KU. Personally, the pages reads make the difference between being close to doing this full time, and not having a shot at it.
> 
> Plus I love the little blue line


Yeah, I'm starting to wonder if the fact my books are currently Amazon only is making it a little harder to get accepted. I mean, I know it's difficult anyway, but that's a likely extra strike against.


----------



## spellscribe

Christopher Kerns said:


> Hello fellow newbies -
> 
> I'm set to launch my first novel on Tuesday, March 29th on Amazon, in both Kindle and Createspace formats.
> 
> I've been reading that it takes a few days for Amazon to link the paperback and Kindle versions, and a few days for "look inside" to kick in as well. Is there a way of preloading both versions so that they will be linked and "look inside"-ready on launch day?


I emailed and they linked it within a few hours  I did this when the ebook was still a preorder, and had the paperback already available (about 5 days before launch)

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Matthew Stott

Yeesh; I had a Fussy Librarian book promo yesterday. I'd heard they were a good bet; looking at my sales today, the book I had with them only sold one copy.
I, uh, might not use them again....


----------



## KeraEmory

Matthew Stott said:


> Yeesh; I had a Fussy Librarian book promo yesterday. I'd heard they were a good bet; looking at my sales today, the book I had with them only sold one copy.
> I, uh, might not use them again....


I saw people describing them as mediocre in another thread last night (sorry not sure which one). I was surprised. Sorry. :/ IME pretty-hot is also not worth the money.


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## JTriptych

Im not taking any ads (unless its the really cheap ones   ) out until I get the third book in the series out there, I feel there won't be enough spillover sales with the other books that I have so Im saving up all my cash for one huge ad blast in the near future!


----------



## Antara Mann

Matthew Stott said:


> Yeesh; I had a Fussy Librarian book promo yesterday. I'd heard they were a good bet; looking at my sales today, the book I had with them only sold one copy.
> I, uh, might not use them again....


I've had similar results; btw, Bargainbooksy refund your money if you have a lackluster promo, for what's worth. Of course, they are way more expansive than FL.


----------



## Antara Mann

Mare said:


> Ankara, it's not so much a learning curve with the Mac as it is just a 'difference' curve. I switched after using a PC for ten years, and I love the ease of using a Mac. I just had to get used to it being so simple.  Took about a week. I've been using Mac ever since. About eight years now. I have the desk top and a MacBook Pro. My daughter has had to buy four PCs in that time.


Great to hear but I don't haev the finances nor the desire to buy a Mac, TBH.
Not to be nit-picky but my name is Antara


----------



## T S Paul

I've been running Facebook ads with pretty good results. I set my limit to $5 a day and only have to pay by the click. I coupled it with a Countdown deal that I am running on my first book. If you fine tune the ad parameters you can get some results. I've been pumping up my blog too. I started a weekly web short story centered around a character in my series Today is the first day of that but hits have tripled so far. http://tspaul.blogspot.com/


----------



## barryjhutchison

My serial sort of pre-published yesterday, so I could run free days for the first episode from today until the 26th. I didn't really tell anyone that it was up - and those I did I told to wait until it went free on the 24th to get it - but had 6 sales of the first two books and what looks like a borrow and full read through for each. I've set up a few promos today and tomorrow for the freebie, so we'll see what that does!


----------



## T S Paul

So the countdown deal has borne some fruit. On average I'm selling about 30-50 copies of the marked down book, the Fogotten Engineer. The promo is pulling sales on the other books. If I sell 30 of the book 1 I'm also selling multiples of the others. Total book sales have been in the 65-91 range daily. Thats right at about $150 a day ish. My book mentor and I laughed that It was jacking my rankings. Already I havde 3 #1 BS books. In a month. The web series I started is running good. Blog hits are up around 60 per
day. The first post was a little longer than I had wanted 1800 words. But everyone know how that is.


----------



## Guest

So this week I'm doing a bit of an experiment while celebrating one year (to the day) of being published.

I made Aisuru free for today and tomorrow and Deviations is on sale for $2.99 for the week with a Book Blitz running across nearly 100 blogs over the next five days.

So far, Deviations hasn't done much, but Aisuru...

As of 2:16 PM CST, it's already had 200 downloads!  Last month's experiment of doing two free days had only 140 across both days, so already doing way better!  Rank so far:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #924 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
    #8 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Romance > Paranormal & Fantasy
    #20 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Multicultural & Interracial

*squee*

(I know, it's not the thousands of downloads a lot of people get for free days, but with little promo, I'm happy) :-D

It also got it's first verified purchase review on Amazon last night, so double yay! (it had a few other organic reviews, but they weren't "verified" because they were from direct sales)

I need to get away from my computer before I kill my refresh button LOL


----------



## Antara Mann

What is that Book Blitz you mentioned?


----------



## Guest

Antara Mann said:


> What is that Book Blitz you mentioned?


It's basically like a blog tour, but over a short span, with more blogs, and you do more prepackaged content to ship to blog hosts, generally just excerpts and Q&As. I'm using Xpresso Book Tours

So far, Deviations hasn't sold a single copy, though I discovered yesterday that I completely screwed up the start time so the $2.99 didn't actually start until midnight CST today instead of yesterday *doh* It has had quite a few people add it to their Goodreads To-Read list though, I've had like 20 new FB page likes, and blog visitors are making positive sounding comments on the posts. Purchased would be nice though 

Aisuru meanwhile had 362 copies download yesterday! Today had no promos scheduled at all that I can recall, so only moved 53 so far, but still holding on in the top 10 in its categories for free. Hoping all this translates to a nice tail when it pops off free at the end of the day.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Good job, Scott and Anma!


----------



## spellscribe

That's great guys  onwards and upwards!

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## JTriptych

Well I finally got my first one-star review on Amazon. I guess this means I made it- to what I dunno.  

I'm not protesting the review since my Book 1 has got some controversial aspects to it and I knew it would turn some people off. I was advised to cut out the chapter but let's face it, I didn't want to write a G-rated Walt Disney book, I wanted to write about something that would affect people and make them remember it, whether its positive or not. And I felt it added a touch of realism that other books in the genre didn't want to tackle.

OK, rant over...


----------



## Maggie Brooke

So I finished the first book in my series last week and have been sending it around to people. The first reader liked it, even though it's not the type of story she usually reads. Another non-romance reader liked it, although he had suggestions about how to make it better. The third reader, who is a successful romance writer, really didn't like it. In fact, didn't like it is probably an understatement. She hated it. She wanted me to cut the first two chapters entirely and said as is there's not a compelling enough conflict. I appreciated her blunt perspective, especially because she confirmed to me that my dialogue isn't differentiated enough between the character, which as a newbie fiction writer I know I need to change. I guess my question is, what do I do moving forward? It touches on _some_ of my struggles with the genre and why I originally wrote this novel in the first place, in large part because I wanted to write a different type of love story. But at this point, I'm left with the idea that perhaps everyone who normally reads romance will hate it. Does that mean I should pursue fitting it into another genre entirely? How do you put a love story in another genre?

In essence, how did any of you deal with it when beta readers hated your story? I cannot discount her perspective, given her success. But I'm just not sure where it leaves me when most of the suggestions she made seem to suggest I should transform it into a story I didn't really want to tell in the first place.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

JTriptych said:


> Well I finally got my first one-star review on Amazon. I guess this means I made it- to what I dunno.
> 
> I'm not protesting the review since my Book 1 has got some controversial aspects to it and I knew it would turn some people off. I was advised to cut out the chapter but let's face it, I didn't want to write a G-rated Walt Disney book, I wanted to write about something that would affect people and make them remember it, whether its positive or not. And I felt it added a touch of realism that other books in the genre didn't want to tackle.
> 
> OK, rant over...


Ouch, John. Sorry about that. Perhaps the reader complaining about the surprising/troubling elements will clue other potential readers in to something they will find intriguing!


----------



## Writer&#039;s Block

Maggie Brooke said:


> So I finished the first book in my series last week and have been sending it around to people. The first reader liked it, even though it's not the type of story she usually reads. Another non-romance reader liked it, although he had suggestions about how to make it better. The third reader, who is a successful romance writer, really didn't like it. In fact, didn't like it is probably an understatement. She hated it. She wanted me to cut the first two chapters entirely and said as is there's not a compelling enough conflict. I appreciated her blunt perspective, especially because she confirmed to me that my dialogue isn't differentiated enough between the character, which as a newbie fiction writer I know I need to change. I guess my question is, what do I do moving forward? It touches on _some_ of my struggles with the genre and why I originally wrote this novel in the first place, in large part because I wanted to write a different type of love story. But at this point, I'm left with the idea that perhaps everyone who normally reads romance will hate it. Does that mean I should pursue fitting it into another genre entirely? How do you put a love story in another genre?
> 
> In essence, how did any of you deal with it when beta readers hated your story? I cannot discount her perspective, given her success. But I'm just not sure where it leaves me when most of the suggestions she made seem to suggest I should transform it into a story I didn't really want to tell in the first place.


I adopted a policy with beta reader feedback that I picked up somewhere (might have been Stephen King On Writing, but I could be wrong on that).

If more that one beta reader flags the same issue then fix it. If it's just one then forget it. Otherwise you are trying to be all things to all people. And you know where that will get you.

That said, you would need a least five or more beta readers for this.


----------



## elizabethsade

Maggie Brooke said:


> So I finished the first book in my series last week and have been sending it around to people. The first reader liked it, even though it's not the type of story she usually reads. Another non-romance reader liked it, although he had suggestions about how to make it better. The third reader, who is a successful romance writer, really didn't like it. In fact, didn't like it is probably an understatement. She hated it. She wanted me to cut the first two chapters entirely and said as is there's not a compelling enough conflict. I appreciated her blunt perspective, especially because she confirmed to me that my dialogue isn't differentiated enough between the character, which as a newbie fiction writer I know I need to change. I guess my question is, what do I do moving forward? It touches on _some_ of my struggles with the genre and why I originally wrote this novel in the first place, in large part because I wanted to write a different type of love story. But at this point, I'm left with the idea that perhaps everyone who normally reads romance will hate it. Does that mean I should pursue fitting it into another genre entirely? How do you put a love story in another genre?
> 
> In essence, how did any of you deal with it when beta readers hated your story? I cannot discount her perspective, given her success. But I'm just not sure where it leaves me when most of the suggestions she made seem to suggest I should transform it into a story I didn't really want to tell in the first place.


Right, so. I did what you did, basically - gained confidence with non-romance beta readers, and then when I got it back from my romance beta-readers, their advice was basically... 'rewrite the whole thing.' Because it didn't hit the romance genre pretty much at all, except for being about a love story.

And I did it. It sucked. It really did. I hated rewriting that thing so many times.

Romance is a unique genre with a bajillion subgenres with a unique tone and a unique sets of rules and wants. If you go against those, you're pretty much not going to sell. Or if you do, it'll be a lot slower and not nearly what you want to sell. I still didn't change it enough. Like you, I have issues with certain aspects of romance.

Then I kind of realized - it's not about me, it's about giving the readers what they want. Even if I want to do something different, I can't expect other people to like the same thing I do when they've already 'told' me (by buying a million books that have similar aspects) what they want. I can't expect them to buy what I'm offering when they don't like it.

Can you sell by being nontraditional? Rosalind James is relatively nontraditional, but she's found an audience that likes what she has. I'm nontraditional and doing okay - on average I sell 5-10 copies a day (between sales and reads). But it's not quit-my-job money. So as bad as it sounds, next time I write, I'm going to give the readers what I want, and do it in my own way.


----------



## Christopher Kerns

I soft-launched my new thriller this weekend. Had to laugh when this KENP report showed up last night.

*SO IT BEGINS*


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Maggie Brooke said:


> In essence, how did any of you deal with it when beta readers hated your story? I cannot discount her perspective, given her success. But I'm just not sure where it leaves me when most of the suggestions she made seem to suggest I should transform it into a story I didn't really want to tell in the first place.


Maggie, I had a beta reader--a very technically-oriented person--say she was put off by the fact that my story did not resolve out to a hero/heroine and villain(ess). But my story is based on real people with real biographical (and ambiguous) details, and I found the ambiguity intriguing and compelling, as do MOST of my readers. I got yukky review (thankfully, not on Amazon!) by someone who thought it didn't work as a romance, when I have no labeling of my book that indicates it's a romance. In fact, mine is an anti-romance!

If yours is a story that can fit in other genres (historical, e.g., or fantasy) and just happens to have romantic elements, try emphasizing those other genres. Hope you find the sweet spot!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Christopher Kerns said:


> I soft-launched my new thriller this weekend. Had to laugh when this KENP report showed up last night.
> 
> *SO IT BEGINS*


Yay!


----------



## Maggie Brooke

Thanks for the thoughts *geraldmkilby* and *elizabethsade*.

I'm still mulling it all over. I'm not sure what I'll do. Two readers have said my characters are too intellectual. But that's the core of the story - two people who fall in love through ideas. I'll try to insert more emotion into the story, but from my perspective, it _did_ have emotion. Lots of it. Maybe I just express my emotions differently. I guess I just don't see some sort of stark divide between ideas and emotions.

I would rather write in a different genre than write to market. Trust me, I have _no problem whatsoever_ with people writing to market. Not at all. I'm just not sure, at least for this story, that it's what I want to do.

Literary fiction can have love stories right? Maybe I should just dispense with the idea that I'm writing a romance at all. Then I can have more chapters that focus on other things entirely.

Criticism is hard, but it's useful, even if it means that you decide not to listen to it. I think the critic can be right and you can still choose not to heed the advice. In general, though, and I edit for a living, when I make criticisms of the work of someone, I usually think, "What can I suggest to make this work the best that it can be?" Even if I personally don't care for it, I work within the parameters of what I've been given and improve the product, even if I would prefer the product be different entirely. With this beta read, it felt like the critique was essentially, "it needs to be something else entirely." I guess it's good to know that now, and I'm not mad. Just confused about where you go when you think the critique is basically "be an entirely different writer than you are."


----------



## Maggie Brooke

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Maggie, I had a beta reader--a very technically-oriented person--say she was put off by the fact that my story did not resolve out to a hero/heroine and villain(ess). But my story is based on real people with real biographical (and ambiguous) details, and I found the ambiguity intriguing and compelling, as do MOST of my readers. I got yukky review (thankfully, not on Amazon!) by someone who thought it didn't work as a romance, when I have no labeling of my book that indicates it's a romance. In fact, mine is an anti-romance!
> 
> If yours is a story that can fit in other genres (historical, e.g., or fantasy) and just happens to have romantic elements, try emphasizing those other genres. Hope you find the sweet spot!


Thanks so much. It's set in 2001. Does that count as historical ?

One thing I do in the book is subvert some romantic expectations. She says the poetic line to him about his eyes. There were a couple of other places when she does things that in typical romance novels the male would do. There's also the theme of being rescued (somewhat tongue in cheek) and ultimately he admits that, if someone is being rescued here, it's probably him and not her. I just had a little bit of fun playing with the tropes.

I almost wish I could make it YA, but the characters are clearly too old, and talk about getting into trouble the intellectual talk! But I feel like as a genre YA is less confining. Or I wish NA still existed separate from romance. Basically what I've come to determine from all this is that I hate genres. There I said it. I'm writing a book. I know I'm not there yet, but I want to write a good book. But I feel constrained by genre.

All this has solidified to me that I am not doing a traditional romance cover. No couple embracing. It was never what I imagined anyway for the cover. At least that way I won't disappoint readers who think it's a straight romance.


----------



## JTriptych

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Ouch, John. Sorry about that. Perhaps the reader complaining about the surprising/troubling elements will clue other potential readers in to something they will find intriguing!


Thanks, Cindy! Your words of wisdom brought a smile to my face. I think you have a very good point that I seemed to have overlooked- this controversy might actually give me more sales!


----------



## Antara Mann

Can I ask for a super quick favor? I promise to return it. Those of you who are in Australia, UK, Canada, etc could you please report a lower price for my book to price-match it on the UK, AUS, CA Amazons? I wrote to KDP a few times with the link to the free Kobo book stating I have free downloads on UK, Canada etc but they want "a proof that the book is free on those other countries". Duh. If a UK, Canadian or Aussie customer reports the lower price then they'll have their "proof". I personally don't know why it has t be so difficult. 
I'm anticipating in Patty's cross-promo and I'm sure some of the readers will be outside of the US and it wouldn't be fair to them. 
Here are the links: http://smarturl.it/alice1
and the Kobo link: http://smarturl.it/alicekobo

Thanks


----------



## T S Paul

elizabethsade said:


> And I did it. It sucked. It really did. I hated rewriting that thing so many times.
> 
> Romance is a unique genre with a bajillion subgenres with a unique tone and a unique sets of rules and wants. If you go against those, you're pretty much not going to sell. Or if you do, it'll be a lot slower and not nearly what you want to sell. I still didn't change it enough. Like you, I have issues with certain aspects of romance.
> 
> Then I kind of realized - it's not about me, it's about giving the readers what they want. Even if I want to do something different, I can't expect other people to like the same thing I do when they've already 'told' me (by buying a million books that have similar aspects) what they want. I can't expect them to buy what I'm offering when they don't like it.
> 
> Can you sell by being nontraditional? Rosalind James is relatively nontraditional, but she's found an audience that likes what she has. I'm nontraditional and doing okay - on average I sell 5-10 copies a day (between sales and reads). But it's not quit-my-job money. So as bad as it sounds, next time I write, I'm going to give the readers what I want, and do it in my own way.


 Personally, I wouldn't change it. I would take their opinion if it was poorly written or had typos but anything else? NOPE. Your book your story. Think of it as a learning experience. Learn then make book 2 better. Get it out there and make some money then write another one


----------



## elizabethsade

scott2218 said:


> Personally, I wouldn't change it. I would take their opinion if it was poorly written or had typos but anything else? NOPE. Your book your story. Think of it as a learning experience. Learn then make book 2 better. Get it out there and make some money then write another one


If you don't give the readers what they want, you're not going to make any money.


----------



## Maggie Brooke

elizabethsade said:


> If you don't give the readers what they want, you're not going to make any money.


Have you ever heard of someone rejiggering a "failed" romance (i.e. one that the loyal readers did not enjoy) into another subgenre or another genre entirely? I'm thinking Literary Fiction > Women's Fiction or even Literary Fiction > Romance.

Those categories on Amazon appear to have a wider variety of types of books.

Or is the whole point that self-published works in those genres don't sell like the straight romance novels?


----------



## Guest

Does it meet the qualifications of being a romance?  I.e. being about the forming of the relationship with an emotionally satisfying HEA/HFN ending?  That is the definition of a romance.  Anything else is playing to specific subgenres and/or tropes. 

If so, it's a romance and to me, should still be labelled as such.  Playing with the tropes is fine.  Yes, domineering, alpha males dominate the romance market, but that doesn't mean there isn't a market for other sorts of heroes.  I mostly gave up reading contemporary romance because I really dislike the current trend of males, so for my own selfish reasons I hope you'll finish the story ;-)  It would mean you'd have to work a bit harder to find your readers, but that's where it gets down to deciding your goals as a writer.

The only real flag I see in what you've seen so far is setting in 2001, which is a little odd unless there is a specific reason for it?  I vaguely recall reading that readers either expect new contemporary works to be "present" or they expect further in the past unless it's tied to some historical event.

Now, if you don't have a HEA/HFN, then it is a love story as that isn't a trope but a requirement to meet the definition of a romance (Nicholas Sparks, for example, is NOT a romance writer, but a writer of love stories).  Those stories will still get labeled romance by Amazon, so you'll have to make sure the blurb is clear it's a love story.  

And yes, you can also market it as women's fiction, which can include love stories.

You mentioned you finished it last week?  Was this the first draft or a revision?  If the former, personally, I'd set it aside a month or so, then reread it and see what your heart/gut tells you about it.  Is it the story you wanted to tell?  Is it what you feel is best for the characters?  Do you feel it meets as least the core definition of a romance novel?


----------



## elizabethsade

Maggie Brooke said:


> Have you ever heard of someone rejiggering a "failed" romance (i.e. one that the loyal readers did not enjoy) into another subgenre or another genre entirely? I'm thinking Literary Fiction > Women's Fiction or even Literary Fiction > Romance.
> 
> Those categories on Amazon appear to have a wider variety of types of books.
> 
> Or is the whole point that self-published works in those genres don't sell like the straight romance novels?


Right. Um. It's hard to say for sure, really, because...to be honest, so many romance novels end up ranked in entirely ridiculous categories, like women's fiction, etc? I would see if you can find other books like yours and find out what categories they're in. I think really unless you're in the top 100 in the store/top 100 in a big genre, most of your visibility is going to come from your alsoboughts, and you want to find the other kind of books you'd want to have in your alsoboughts.


----------



## Maggie Brooke

Anma Natsu said:


> Does it meet the qualifications of being a romance? I.e. being about the forming of the relationship with an emotionally satisfying HEA/HFN ending? That is the definition of a romance. Anything else is playing to specific subgenres and/or tropes.
> 
> If so, it's a romance and to me, should still be labelled as such. Playing with the tropes is fine. Yes, domineering, alpha males dominate the romance market, but that doesn't mean there isn't a market for other sorts of heroes. I mostly gave up reading contemporary romance because I really dislike the current trend of males, so for my own selfish reasons I hope you'll finish the story ;-) It would mean you'd have to work a bit harder to find your readers, but that's where it gets down to deciding your goals as a writer.
> 
> The only real flag I see in what you've seen so far is setting in 2001, which is a little odd unless there is a specific reason for it? I vaguely recall reading that readers either expect new contemporary works to be "present" or they expect further in the past unless it's tied to some historical event.
> 
> Now, if you don't have a HEA/HFN, then it is a love story as that isn't a trope but a requirement to meet the definition of a romance (Nicholas Sparks, for example, is NOT a romance writer, but a writer of love stories). Those stories will still get labeled romance by Amazon, so you'll have to make sure the blurb is clear it's a love story.
> 
> And yes, you can also market it as women's fiction, which can include love stories.
> 
> You mentioned you finished it last week? Was this the first draft or a revision? If the former, personally, I'd set it aside a month or so, then reread it and see what your heart/gut tells you about it. Is it the story you wanted to tell? Is it what you feel is best for the characters? Do you feel it meets as least the core definition of a romance novel?


Thanks for the thoughts. Yes, it is technically a romance. The romance is the center of the plot and it has a HEA. I think the reader just thought the characters wouldn't resonate with romance readers and that they didn't have enough obstacles in their path to love. I guess one of them needs some sort of fatal flaw? Or they need to be polar opposites that find their way to each other? Or the ying/yang thing?

I will try to tone down the intellectualism. My readers so far haven't cared for the the "smart talk" conversing style of my couple a la _Before Sunrise_, although I would personally consider that movie a romance. That was the feel I was going for. Evidently I failed. Or possibly readers don't like that style.

2001 is interesting. I did that for a few reasons: 1) the book is set in NYC in August 2001. 2) I liked the idea of writing a NYC romance before 9-11. The awfulness of that day is only going to factor in one chapter of the second book (and only from afar, since the POV will be elsewhere), but I meant it kind of as my homage to the city on the cusp of the tragedy. 3) I wanted to write a novel pre-social media and texting and all that jazz.

It sounds stupid when I write it all out, but I did have my reasons, one being that I lived there at that time and could better write a story about a place I lived. It's strange how the only time categories seem to be either "historical" -- which means what? pre-1950? pre-1900? -- or "contemporary." Where do you put a romance set in the 1970s? I don't know about you, but I'd like to read a romance set in the 1970s from the perspective of someone in 2016 (as opposed to an actual romance from the 1970s). That would be awesome.


----------



## Maggie Brooke

elizabethsade said:


> Right. Um. It's hard to say for sure, really, because...to be honest, so many romance novels end up ranked in entirely ridiculous categories, like women's fiction, etc? I would see if you can find other books like yours and find out what categories they're in. I think really unless you're in the top 100 in the store/top 100 in a big genre, most of your visibility is going to come from your alsoboughts, and you want to find the other kind of books you'd want to have in your alsoboughts.


Thanks. I meant more for you, if you were planning on rewriting your first book again.


----------



## elizabethsade

Maggie Brooke said:


> Thanks. I meant more for you, if you were planning on rewriting your first book again.


Oh! What I would probably do is re-write it, up the suspense/mystery arc (because there's a small one) and rebrand it as a proper romantic suspense. I haven't done it yet, because I don't think it'd hit that market well (too much sex, I think), but if I was going to that's what I'd do.

I would take a look at your book, its subplots, its tone, and figure out what might suit it. It sounds like literary/love stories might work?

You mention it's pre-NYC because you wanted to write about the city on the cusp of tragedy - is that mirrored in your characters? Do you have a theme? If you haven't read it already, Libbie Hawker's 'Take Off Your Pants' is a good introduction to outlining and to what she means by 'fatal flaw'.

Basically, romance readers want to see characters overcome something, whether it's a bad past, their inability to move on, their shyness, whatever. (And the yin/yang thing is also common, especially bad boy/good girl.) There generally has to be both internal and external forces both pushing (generally attraction, sometimes forced proximity, etc) and pulling (flaw, backstory, social positions, whatever) the characters towards or away from each other.


----------



## Guest

If I'm not mistaken, historical at this point goes up to around World War II or so?  I think one definition I heard was set at least 50 years in the past from the time it is written.  (I imagine some historical writers can come pinpoint the definition a bit better than that).

Now that I think about it more, I think anything between historical and now is just contemporary, so yep, 1970s is still contemporary for at least 10 more years   Yay, I'm not historical yet!  LOL

If you're including the 9-11 events in, then that would make the year make sense, so it should work 

Romance readers do expect there to be obstacles.  It doesn't necessarily have to be a fatal flaw or their being polar opposites, but just something that has a realistic chance of keeping them apart.  Non-flaw/opposite obstacles might include: separated by distance (or time for the time travel ones), competitors over some job/company/property/award/etc, family strife/antagonism, conflicting responsibilities/desires, or even being fairly compatible with just one big opposite that causes issues (differing religions, races, financial situations, views on kids, family, etc).


----------



## JTriptych

I think my cover designers really outdid themselves this time. I love it a lot!


----------



## BookStar

As an author, I was always writing what I wanted to write, but have learned that it's more important to give the readers what they want if you want to sell books. That doesn't mean you have to write something you hate, but it does involve certain compromises. As a founder of BookStar Daily (a newsletter that promotes ebooks on sale and new releases in Romance, Chick Lit and Women's Fiction), I've had a chance to read a lot of Romance novels, and it seems many of the highly ranked ones have happy endings, for example. So the important thing is know your genre and understand what works and what doesn't. Good luck!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Sharing a little data: on my first Kindle Countdown that started yesterday, I did almost no promo on FB and Twitter so I could see how the EReaderCafe promo worked. It looks like it netted me about 70 purchases through the day, and my rank moved to 3600 on Kindle (from about 250,000 before the promo started). My book is at the 99-cent price point and I have a few more sales today, but I think that promo is pretty much done in a day. But it gave me a 150% ROI, and that's better than I've had with Twitter and FB ads!

Today I'm promoting to my mailing list (over 100, a third or a half of whom have probably bought the book already) and offering a giveaway of 1 illustrated paperback for every twenty entrants (those who send a note to me that they've shared the sale on Twitter, FB, or in email to 3 friends).

The book goes up to $1.99 on Monday afternoon, and I have both a guest blog post (interview of my character for historical fiction fans) and a Fussy Librarian promo scheduled for that final day. I will be adding other things along the way.

Just thought I'd offer the stats for my fellow newbies!


----------



## Matthew Stott

Ach, sixth Bookbub rejection in a row; those swines won't take my money..!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Matthew Stott said:


> Ach, sixth Bookbub rejection in a row; those swines won't take my money..!


Sorry about that, Matthew. It would probably help others here if you could tell how your submission fits into the BookBub requirements in terms of sales, reviews, etc.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Sorry about that, Matthew. It would probably help others here if you could tell how your submission fits into the BookBub requirements in terms of sales, reviews, etc.


This was for the blue book in my sig. It currently has 21 reviews on the US Amazon. I was kind of hopeful with this one as the first time I tried Bookbub, it was with this book, and it was accepted, much to my surprise. It was probably the worst time for it to be accepted, as I had nothing else to really move all those new eyes on to. So now that it was eligible to put forward again, and had a lot more reviews than first time around, I was hopeful that it would get the thumbs up again, but no luck this time. I'll try again in a month! 

I suppose what this says is that it's not always down to the book itself, because they took it once, so it must pass whatever bars they have, and a lot of people picked it up. There are very limited slots each time you go for it, and even something that is potentially 'right' is going to be turned down. So you just have to keep knocking on the door. It is frustrating though, as nothing else has the guaranteed muscle of a Bookbub.

I'm sure I'm far from alone in that frustration!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Matthew Stott said:


> This was for the blue book in my sig. It currently has 21 reviews on the US Amazon. I was kind of hopeful with this one as the first time I tried Bookbub, it was with this book, and it was accepted, much to my surprise. It was probably the worst time for it to be accepted, as I had nothing else to really move all those new eyes on to. So now that it was eligible to put forward again, and had a lot more reviews than first time around, I was hopeful that it would get the thumbs up again, but no luck this time. I'll try again in a month!
> 
> I suppose what this says is that it's not always down to the book itself, because they took it once, so it must pass whatever bars they have, and a lot of people picked it up. There are very limited slots each time you go for it, and even something that is potentially 'right' is going to be turned down. So you just have to keep knocking on the door. It is frustrating though, as nothing else has the guaranteed muscle of a Bookbub.
> 
> I'm sure I'm far from alone in that frustration!


Very helpful!


----------



## JTriptych

Cindy Rinaman Marsch said:


> Sharing a little data: on my first Kindle Countdown that started yesterday, I did almost no promo on FB and Twitter so I could see how the EReaderCafe promo worked. It looks like it netted me about 70 purchases through the day, and my rank moved to 3600 on Kindle (from about 250,000 before the promo started). My book is at the 99-cent price point and I have a few more sales today, but I think that promo is pretty much done in a day. But it gave me a 150% ROI, and that's better than I've had with Twitter and FB ads!
> 
> Today I'm promoting to my mailing list (over 100, a third or a half of whom have probably bought the book already) and offering a giveaway of 1 illustrated paperback for every twenty entrants (those who send a note to me that they've shared the sale on Twitter, FB, or in email to 3 friends).
> 
> The book goes up to $1.99 on Monday afternoon, and I have both a guest blog post (interview of my character for historical fiction fans) and a Fussy Librarian promo scheduled for that final day. I will be adding other things along the way.
> 
> Just thought I'd offer the stats for my fellow newbies!


Thanks for telling me about that ad site, I never heard of it before but I think I shall try it in the near future!


----------



## C. Rysalis

First book published today. I can't get anything done! I constantly obsess over promo research, refreshing the KDP dashboard, and checking for new email. Geeze. I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight.

On the plus side, Booksends accepted me with 0 reviews.   I belatedly realized their minimum is 5.

The Look Inside magically appeared on day 1, too. I'll take it as a sign of good fortune.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

C. Rysalis said:


> First book published today. I can't get anything done! I constantly obsess over promo research, refreshing the KDP dashboard, and checking for new email. Geeze. I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight.
> 
> On the plus side, Booksends accepted me with 0 reviews.  I belatedly realized their minimum is 5.
> 
> The Look Inside magically appeared on day 1, too. I'll take it as a sign of good fortune.


Congratulations! It's exciting!


----------



## Paul_Stephenson

I've finally joined the club! Feels like I was posting in this thread when it was just a baby thread, but I got there in the end!

It's terrifying, brilliant, awful, maddening and slightly anticlimactic.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Paul_Stephenson said:


> I've finally joined the club! Feels like I was posting in this thread when it was just a baby thread, but I got there in the end!
> 
> It's terrifying, brilliant, awful, maddening and slightly anticlimactic.


Congrats and welcome, Paul!


----------



## Bbates024

Paul_Stephenson said:


> I've finally joined the club! Feels like I was posting in this thread when it was just a baby thread, but I got there in the end!
> 
> It's terrifying, brilliant, awful, maddening and slightly anticlimactic.


Welcome to the dark! 

I've been neglecting this thread but it's great to see so many one people starting. I'm coming up on one year soon and am still loving every minute of it.

It gets easier. In my first six months, I published four things. In the second six months, I'm going to have published seven or eight depending on how things go. Last month I published something like 150k words of fiction, it felt great!

Hang in there and keep them coming!


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Bbates024 said:


> Welcome to the dark!
> 
> I've been neglecting this thread but it's great to see so many one people starting. I'm coming up on one year soon and am still loving every minute of it.
> 
> It gets easier. In my first six months, I published four things. In the second six months, I'm going to have published seven or eight depending on how things go. Last month I published something like 150k words of fiction, it felt great!
> 
> Hang in there and keep them coming!


So productive! I write slow fiction, slowly.  I published in January, with an illustrated paperback version in February, and I'm in the last stretch of edits to a prequel short story now, hoping to publish before the end of the month and then start in on the next novel.


----------



## spellscribe

Dropped in to humble brag - got my grubby little hands on the first lot of ACTUAL royalty money, other than <$10 from the aussie store. I ha to register for payoneer then wait a card but I tell you what, taking out money from an ATM that was solely earned from my books?

Best. Feeling. Ever. 

(Also excellent timing as I was able to use it for a bill I was in real danger of defaulting on) 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

spellscribe said:


> Dropped in to humble brag - got my grubby little hands on the first lot of ACTUAL royalty money, other than <$10 from the aussie store. I ha to register for payoneer then wait a card but I tell you what, taking out money from an ATM that was solely earned from my books?
> 
> Best. Feeling. Ever.
> 
> (Also excellent timing as I was able to use it for a bill I was in real danger of defaulting on)
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Congrats, Amy!


----------



## Paul_Stephenson

Seems I kind of killed this thread last time I was here, oops! Anyway, one month into my publishing career I thought I'd take the opportunity to reflect on how it's all gone so far.

http://paulstephensonbooks.com/blog/2016/6/22/month-one

Be interested to hear from other newbies to see how they're getting along.


----------



## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Paul_Stephenson said:


> Seems I kind of killed this thread last time I was here, oops! Anyway, one month into my publishing career I thought I'd take the opportunity to reflect on how it's all gone so far.
> 
> http://paulstephensonbooks.com/blog/2016/6/22/month-one
> 
> Be interested to hear from other newbies to see how they're getting along.


Awesome post, Paul. You had me smiling in recognition all through, proving you're a great writer!

I've found that an important part of the long-term strategy is creating relationships with other writers, especially those with forums like popular blogs, power in review groups, etc. Take a look at my website (link below) for some ideas - particularly ALLi, AI, or, for me, HNS.


----------



## Matthew Stott

Paul_Stephenson said:


> Seems I kind of killed this thread last time I was here, oops! Anyway, one month into my publishing career I thought I'd take the opportunity to reflect on how it's all gone so far.
> 
> http://paulstephensonbooks.com/blog/2016/6/22/month-one
> 
> Be interested to hear from other newbies to see how they're getting along.


Well done, and yes, having your focus on the long term is the ideal way to treat your business. Bet on the slow, deliberate build.

I'm about to launch a new book next week! It's the first book in a new series, and for grown ups, too. Curious to see how it goes, but as I'm still in my first year as an author, I'm keeping my eye on that long term build. Of course I'd love it to be a smash hit, but really I'm hopeful of just gradually building my reader base with it. Expand my mailing list further.


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## njskaye

I suppose it's only fitting that this is my very first post on KB, to prove that I am a TOTAL newbie. 

I loved your blog entry, Paul. And you're doing pretty damn well IMO.

I launched my first book (non-fiction, which is admittedly hard to sell) a few weeks ago. Later this week I have some promotions going on through KB Discovery and some other sites, which I hope will boost sales. I would like to say that sales have been anemic, but honestly it's more like exsanguinated.

I too wrote a blog entry about the process, to answer questions from family and friends about WTF I've been doing for the past few months. I continue to market, but I guess we will see how it goes in the next week or two. I need to get going on my next non-fiction project, but I'm finding all this business of writing stuff is getting in the way of actually _writing_.

http://www.njskaye.com/free-candy/2016/6/5/baking-a-book-from-scratch

I also have a romance titled *Professor Love* coming out this week (under the pen name Nikky Kaye). I am working on boosting visibility for that as well, but it's hard with such a crowded genre. And I have two pretty hot novellas coming out soon as well.

I'm thinking about the long game, but it takes an extraordinary amount of time and energy to self-publish. Whew!

Nicola
_writing how-to as NJS Kaye
and how-hot-too as Nikky Kaye_


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## Adair Hart

Paul_Stephenson said:


> Seems I kind of killed this thread last time I was here, oops! Anyway, one month into my publishing career I thought I'd take the opportunity to reflect on how it's all gone so far.
> 
> http://paulstephensonbooks.com/blog/2016/6/22/month-one
> 
> Be interested to hear from other newbies to see how they're getting along.


Good read, Paul! I'm only ten months into my publishing life, but it took me a bit longer to come to the same conclusions as you. In regards to advertising, I stopped worrying about it as much around February as I only have two novels and a novella out. The only advertising I have done and still do since then is my facebook reader magnet and two free days, and my ranking shows that. My third book (4th overall) comes out next month and I'll do the advertiser dance again.

You went wide which I think is ideal. I went with KU initially because most of the advice for new authors here is to do that until you have 3 or 4 books out. I'm at that threshold now and will move everything wide for book 4 in November. Good luck on your journey and appreciate you taking the time to post your thoughts!


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## A.E. Wasp

I have two books out, books one of two different series. I know, but they were already mostly written. Book 2 of series one is so close to being finished. And then book three. Then book one of the series sequel to that series, set 25 years later, is on the back burner.

Plus a completely different series in a different genre altogether is in the notes/outlines stage. I have 3k words for the first story.

And my motivation is lost today.  So thanks for the reminder that this is a long haul thing.


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## shunterni

My first book came out in March, but I'd still call myself a newbie. For various personal reasons, it didn't have the launch I was hoping to give it and so floundered badly.

But hey! It has a new cover, new blurb, and better-fitting categories, so it's ready to be re-launched with a 99 cent add campaign over the next week, all leading up to the release of my second book on June 30th. Hopefully that will gain it some traction. So far I have booked:

Ereader News Today:	June 24th
Kindle Books and Tips:	June 25th
Booksends:	June 26th
Genre Crave:	June 27th
Ebook Discovery Daily Zine:	June 28th

I'm giving Facebook ads a try to plug the gap between the 28th and the 30th. I don't have a huge amount of hope for them, but it's something.


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## C. Rysalis

Matthew Stott said:


> I'm about to launch a new book next week! It's the first book in a new series, and for grown ups, too. Curious to see how it goes, but as I'm still in my first year as an author, I'm keeping my eye on that long term build. Of course I'd love it to be a smash hit, but really I'm hopeful of just gradually building my reader base with it. Expand my mailing list further.


OMG that cover is awesome! I want to read it already


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## spellscribe

I levelled up this week! I've packed my bags, donned my copper underwear and chipped dagger and left Northshire Valley, after stopping for a moment in Stormwind to play on the train and ogle the superstars passing by the inn.

My third book has just dropped, the one that everyone says gives you that first little bump towards consistency. My first book is available on Nook and iTunes (still waiting, Kobo!), so I'm also wide. The combination of the two feels pretty cool, even if the income hasn't caught up to my own delusions of grandeur 

Onward and upward!


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## Guest

spellscribe said:


> I levelled up this week! I've packed my bags, donned my copper underwear and chipped dagger and left Northshire Valley, after stopping for a moment in Stormwind to play on the train and ogle the superstars passing by the inn.
> 
> My third book has just dropped, the one that everyone says gives you that first little bump towards consistency. My first book is available on Nook and iTunes (still waiting, Kobo!), so I'm also wide. The combination of the two feels pretty cool, even if the income hasn't caught up to my own delusions of grandeur
> 
> Onward and upward!


That's awesome, congrats Amy! Sending good wishes your way that 3rd book is the charm it's often said to be 



Matthew Stott said:


> Well done, and yes, having your focus on the long term is the ideal way to treat your business. Bet on the slow, deliberate build.
> 
> I'm about to launch a new book next week! It's the first book in a new series, and for grown ups, too. Curious to see how it goes, but as I'm still in my first year as an author, I'm keeping my eye on that long term build. Of course I'd love it to be a smash hit, but really I'm hopeful of just gradually building my reader base with it. Expand my mailing list further.


Matthew, that cover and graphic rock! The summary also sounds pretty intriguing!


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## Paul_Stephenson

Thanks for the nice words everyone, and it's great to see there's a few more newbies around here, and all with their heads screwed on, and some great covers!


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## Matthew Stott

C. Rysalis said:


> OMG that cover is awesome! I want to read it already





Anma Natsu said:


> Matthew, that cover and graphic rock! The summary also sounds pretty intriguing!


Thanks! I do like the cover very much.


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## shunterni

My big pre-launch sale is halfway through. I'm wide, but Kobo has not updated my price yet, despite having changed it on the *22nd*. Everywhere else, What Boys Are Made Of is 99 cents and selling like a food item that is not hotcakes. Possibly liquorish drops.

Ereader News Today June 24th 22 sales
Kindle Books and Tips	June 25th 14 sales
Booksends June 26th 12 sales (including two this morning which I am attributing to it as today's advert has not gone out yet.)

I'm hovering anywhere between 13,200 (peak) and 29,000ish (lowest it dropped yesterday), currently at 19,760. The sales numbers I've gotten seem low, but I can't seem to find threads to compare it to that aren't runaway successes. Still, I'm rather disappointed that ENT resulted in only 22 sales. For being regarded as one of the best promos, I would have thought the numbers would be better. Maybe I'm thinking of a different website. Then again, I guess someone has to be lower than average. No also-boughts yet.

Still two more promos to go, today and tomorrow, and I might book a BKnights and Genrepulse for later this week. I'm also in Patty's Scifi-Fantasy promo and really looking forward to that! Everything's ready to go there--except, of course, that one Kobo listing.

*Spellscribe*, it might interest you to know that your books are now showing up in my also-looked-ats. I think we're using the same promo platforms right now. I do rather love your covers.


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## Matthew Stott

Well, my new book is out today (first book in my sig!). Have yet to tell my list, I'm going to do it in a segmented way to try and get a few extra sales over several days....
Then it'll be onto other means, like Facebook ads, and paid advertising. Fingers crossed that it shifts a few..!


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## MJ Stark

spellscribe said:


> I levelled up this week! I've packed my bags, donned my copper underwear and chipped dagger and left Northshire Valley, after stopping for a moment in Stormwind to play on the train and ogle the superstars passing by the inn.
> 
> My third book has just dropped, the one that everyone says gives you that first little bump towards consistency. My first book is available on Nook and iTunes (still waiting, Kobo!), so I'm also wide. The combination of the two feels pretty cool, even if the income hasn't caught up to my own delusions of grandeur
> 
> Onward and upward!


This makes me deliriously happy! Spent so much time going back and forth on that train  Congrats on book 3! Keep us updated with how it goes.


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## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

shunterni said:


> My big pre-launch sale is halfway through. I'm wide, but Kobo has not updated my price yet, despite having changed it on the *22nd*. Everywhere else, What Boys Are Made Of is 99 cents and selling like a food item that is not hotcakes. Possibly liquorish drops.
> 
> Ereader News Today June 24th 22 sales
> Kindle Books and Tips	June 25th 14 sales
> Booksends June 26th 12 sales (including two this morning which I am attributing to it as today's advert has not gone out yet.)


Thanks for sharing your stats! I ran a promo with eReader Cafe and Fussy Librarian in April and sold about 70 with the first and 30 with the second (though the price had gone up from 99 cents to $1.99 with the second on my Countdown Deal), so I thought I'd do those again and add EReader News Today for my promo starting July 2. I will be at 99 cents for the whole week and have scheduled the promos for every other day to watch the effect. I'm also interested in how it will blend with my just-released short story at 99 cents. Will report!


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## Arches

Starting from zero.

The first book in my mystery series set in the Colorado Rockies is now available from the Kindle Store. Hallelujah Is Dying is the first of a series of mysteries featuring Alpine County sheriff's detective Flint Harrington and his four-legged partner, a Great Pyrenees named Apollo.



The book description is: *Hell comes to Hallelujah, a sleepy little mining town high in the Colorado Rockies.* 
Flint Harrington was Hallelujah's marshal until Mayor Joe laid him off. Five months later, the mayor is dead, found collapsed in his mine. His widow asks Flint to investigate. He agrees to help her, as a favor, but expects that Joe died of natural causes.
To Flint's horror, though, he discovers that Joe was hiding a terrible secret from his wife and the community. Joe's unexpected death has pulled back a curtain that exposes a criminal enterprise that is thriving in Hallelujah's dark and remote mines.
Human monsters roam those hidden corridors, torturing and killing innocent victims. And when more murders follow, the town turns to the marshal they once cast aside, hoping he can save them all.

The second book in the series, Paradise Is Dying, will be available on November 18th, and can be pre-ordered now.



The book description is: *There's big trouble in Paradise. Two world-famous celebrities just died at Colorado's renowned Paradise Ranch.*
Giselle Tanzer, a sweet, graceful, and beloved young actress, is no more. Detective Flint Harrington finds her body next to Chuckie Love's. He was a vulgar and bombastic billionaire. Both were shot in his bedroom suite.
It seems like an open and shut case. Chuckie sexually assaulted Giselle. She grabbed his gun from a drawer in a nearby end table and fired straight into his heart. Then, horrified at what she'd done, she put the pistol to her temple and pulled the trigger.
But Flint soon realizes nothing in this case can be accepted at face value.

The third book in the series, Majestic Is Dying, will be available in mid-December.


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## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Arches said:


> Starting from zero.
> 
> The first book in my mystery series set in the Colorado Rockies is now available from the Kindle Store. Hallelujah Is Dying is the first of a series of mysteries featuring Alpine County sheriff's detective Flint Harrington and his four-legged partner, a Great Pyrenees named Apollo.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> The third book in the series, Majestic Is Dying, will be available in mid-December.


Good job! Welcome to the craziness!


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## Saturday&#039;s Child

Glad I found this thread. Now I don't feel so bad about my pitiful launch.  I published my first book last Saturday. I thought my expectations were pretty realistic by hoping for just one sale/borrow per day. Well, it's been a week and I've only managed two sales and two borrows--and only one of those sales came from a bknight promo (I spent $11 to make .35). It's the only promo I've done. I did it for practice, but it just depressed me.

In any case, book two comes out in two weeks. Book three will come out three weeks after that. Hopefully, it will get better, but I can't help but worry that my cover and/or blurb sucks after the abysmal bknights promo. I rewrote the blurb, but it hasn't helped any.

Sorry to be a downer, but this IS the newbie launch support thread.


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## Cindy Rinaman Marsch

Saturday's Child said:


> Glad I found this thread. Now I don't feel so bad about my pitiful launch.  I published my first book last Saturday. I thought my expectations were pretty realistic by hoping for just one sale/borrow per day. Well, it's been a week and I've only managed two sales and two borrows--and only one of those sales came from a bknight promo (I spent $11 to make .35). It's the only promo I've done. I did it for practice, but it just depressed me.
> 
> In any case, book two comes out in two weeks. Book three will come out three weeks after that. Hopefully, it will get better, but I can't help but worry that my cover and/or blurb sucks after the abysmal bknights promo. I rewrote the blurb, but it hasn't helped any.
> 
> Sorry to be a downer, but this IS the newbie launch support thread.


Sorry for your disappointment. My best advice is to read around, and especially pay close attention to the blogs and FB pages and so forth for those who ARE successful. My greatest go-to is the Alliance of independent Authors (ALLi), which you can investigate and join (I get a finder's fee  ) from a link at the bottom of my site here: www.rosettebook.com or www.morainesedgebooks.com .


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## benrussell

I know this is an old topic but the link to theindieview.com is awesome! Thanks for the tip!



JTriptych said:


> Yeah you may have to go through a bunch, it took me a whole day to get through and email the entire list.
> 
> Also, try the ones in the latest reviews section:
> 
> http://www.theindieview.com/latest-indie-book-reviews-from-around-the-web/
> 
> Since these bloggers just posted a review, it would mean that they are active and they may have a free slot now that they finished reviewing another book. You ought to get a faster response from them.


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