# What Am I doing wrong?



## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

Or, who do I have to sacrifice goats to, in order to see some tangible progress with my books?

It's a whine, I know.  But I'm at my wit's end.  I've done everything I can think of.  Changed the covers.  Rewritten the blurbs, several times.  Played with categories.  Done Goodreads giveaways.  Interacted just as a reader to try and get to know people on GR.  promoted on FB.  Promoted other authors on my website.  Done just about every promo site.  Run sales and free giveaways.  Got together a mailing list.  Written more books (seven in all in my series now).  Gotten the first four books on audio.  The books are actually good.  The reviews are very solid.  I've got some genuine fans who are clamoring for the next book in the series.

And yet...

I know it's a marathon, not a sprint, but at some point I would like to stop bleeding money and see something like forward movement.  I'd like to see two straight months where the number of sales increase, which has not happened in 18 months so far.  

I didn't go into this expecting to make a million dollars.  I hoped that, after 18 months, I might at least be netting positive income from this.  I even dreamed of clearing $500 to $1,000 a month.  But that goal seems farther away than it was when I started.  I've put all of my heart and all of my hopes into these books, and put myself out there publicly in ways that terrify me and make me almost physically ill (I'm a fairly extreme introvert, and very nervous even around close friends and family a lot of the time).  And so far all it's accomplished is to cost me around $5,000 and make me question every single choice I've made endlessly.  

I read all the advice here from authors who are having great success, and I try to take what I can from it; I try to replicate what seems like it fits my books - and absolutely NOTHING is getting me any traction at all.  I need something good to happen with these books - I need to MAKE something good happen with them, and I just am at a loss.  Aside from my frustrations with sales, I lost my day job last week, and I'm not really sure where September's rent is going to come from.  That $500-$1,000/month I was hoping for by now would have been really handy.

The only thing I can think of that I haven't done yet is permafree, and I was just about ready to try that when KU rolled out last month and I held back.  And I would try for bookbub with that (although I've tried to get in to BB over and over and over and over etc. with no success for the past year, so I'm not holding my breath on that anymore).  I suppose I need to try that - but at this point I don't have much faith that even it will move the books.  And I just don't understand what the problem is with them.


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## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

I'm sorry to hear things are a bit of a struggle, starkllr. Are your books in Select? I couldn't get a paid BB ad but they accepted me for freebie. That, combined with a 99c sale on all my other titles a while back, paid for itself a few times over and got me a lot of new readers. I really rate it as a tactic for series with several books in them.


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## BlairErotica (Mar 1, 2014)

When I look at your first book, the cover suggests to me it is a romance, and a sweet romance at that. But you have it categorized as both mystery and science fiction. So your readers probably aren't finding it. The description suggests it is a paranormal story, but your keywords have gotten it listed as metaphysical.

I guess my response is that this book (I didn't look at the others) isn't positioned so that readers can know what it is.
Just one opinion.


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## VEwoodlake (Jul 11, 2014)

The audience for your series is probably limited. I would abandon this series and move on to something different.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

I feel for you. It's frustrating. My advice...

The artwork on the covers is v good, but it feels like romance/YA. The scrollwork framing and the titling are not helping them either. It's too busy and feels "sweet". You can try keeping the art and get someone to to do new typography, or if they are not romance at all, try again. I know! It hurts. What audience are you trying to reach? The book has a sweet YA romance cover, but is a cozy mystery/NA fantasy?

eta: add some color, just a touch, they're a bit dark now, blue is popular. 

Go perma-free with one or (and I'd do this I were you and not selling on other venues), go all in to Select for 3 months. Get some visibility with KU, run a BB on one as a freebie and 2 as a 99c with a Countdown deal.

Hang in there!


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

starkllr said:


> The only thing I can think of that I haven't done yet is permafree....


I'd say do that.

There are many authors here who have said they were in the same boat as you until they put their first book in a series as Permafree... after which their books really took off.

That's what I'm going to do later this month with my first book while leaving the others in Select.

Seems like you're in a good position to do this given your catalog.

Philip


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

Boyd said:


> I like your covers and blurbs, how are you choosing your keywords, and what are you doing to promote the books?


I chose the keywords to try and get into as many (reasonable) categories as possible. These are the keywords for the first book:
Coming of age, Dreams, Psychic, Romance, amateur, College, New Adult

I positioned them as mysteries because that's really what carries through the series, more than the romance aspect (they get married at the start of the second book, and there are no breakup-makeup cycles or triangles or anything like that). There's a crime or something similar in each book that the heroine learns about in her dreams and has to solve/contend with, along with whatever's going on in her personal life (being a newlywed, medical school, parenthood, etc). That's why I moved them out of romance and into mystery. It seemed like it made more sense.

As far as promotion, I've done too many to count, but all of the big ones (except for BB). I even had ENT Book of the Day last month, and that really didn't do much.



BlairErotica said:


> When I look at your first book, the cover suggests to me it is a romance, and a sweet romance at that. But you have it categorized as both mystery and science fiction. So your readers probably aren't finding it. The description suggests it is a paranormal story, but your keywords have gotten it listed as metaphysical.


I honestly don't know how it ends up classed as science fiction - that's odd to me as well. That's definitely not intentional. I'm guessing it might have to do with using "psychic" as one of my keywords. But it seemed to fit, and I was advised to include it.



Monique said:


> The artwork on the covers is v good, but it feels like romance/YA. The scrollwork framing and the titling are not helping them either. It's too busy and feels "sweet". You can try keeping the art and get someone to to do new typography, or if they are not romance at all, try again. I know! It hurts. What audience are you trying to reach? The book has a sweet YA romance cover, but is a cozy mystery/NA fantasy?
> 
> eta: add some color, just a touch, they're a bit dark now, blue is popular.
> 
> ...


Stupid question: I can't go perma-free with a book that's in Select, can I? It needs to be on sale elsewhere for free for Amazon to price-match, doesn't it? Or will Amazon keep it free even once I pull it from the other venues?

Thanks, all! I know it's a whine that you've seen a thousand times before, so I appreciate you taking the time to read through it and reply.


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## BlairErotica (Mar 1, 2014)

We need to play nice and try to help or we forfeit our turn to whine!
Good luck.


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## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

How's your conversion from book one to book two and beyond? 

Just taking a quick look at your rankings, it seems like maybe you are not grabbing enough people from book one who go on to read the others.

It might be worth looking at your reviews, the three stars tend to give good information but look through all the reviews on book one and see if there are any common themes that are mentioned, areas that you can then go back and tighten, and improve so that you keep more of the readers who find you with book one.

I would do that, and then make book one permafree.  I'm seeing that work wonders for other writers in a little group I'm in, myself included. Permafree combined with BookBub around the time of a new release is powerful.


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

starkllr said:


> Stupid question: I can't go perma-free with a book that's in Select, can I? It needs to be on sale elsewhere for free for Amazon to price-match, doesn't it? Or will Amazon keep it free even once I pull it from the other venues?


You have to take it out of Select. You can either wait until its 90-day term expires or (as a result of the introduction of KU) contact Amazon and ask them to take it out of Select now.

Then, upload the book (the first one in your series) to the other sites through Draft to Digital and make it free (after a few days?).

Then notify Amazon that it is free on those stores. If they don't make it free on Amazon, visit the 'Make it Free' thread on this board and others here will request Amazon to make it free on your behalf.

Seems to work, although I've no direct experience myself - just what I've gleaned from reading this board over the past many months.

Best of luck!

Philip


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Yes, you have to either be in Select or go permafree. You can't do both.

As someone whose books straddle genres, including romance, I know that can gum up the marketing works. My couple got married in book 4 and are still married, no tiangle, ets. But I still think the romance/growth of them as a couple is enough to qualify it as romance. 

I would decide what your best genre connection is and revamp, cover/blurb to target them.


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## Jash (Apr 4, 2013)

starkllr said:


> The only thing I can think of that I haven't done yet...


Unless you have another pen name another thing you haven't done is written something other than another entry in a series that doesn't seem to have an audience. You have good covers and good blurbs, but if these books aren't getting the sales you want, despite being well written and well received by those that do by them you might just have to face that they simply don't appeal to that many people and sometimes no amount of promo will change that.

Basically what VEwoodlake said, but with more words. To be honest I have to wonder why you kept going with this series after three books if they weren't generating the sales you wanted.


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## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

Could you go permafree with the first book and put the rest of the series in Select?


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## Jamkins (Jun 21, 2014)

I like your covers.
Try to get them in with the paranormal crowd. paranormal>romance>physic

The titles have boring words, do away with student, family, doctor, reunion and find something more catchy for the pnr crowd. The titles make me not even want to spend my time on the blurb even though the blurb is good to me.

Make the first book permafree. The second book .99 and keep the rest 3.99, from the reviews you do make people want to read on. 

Your main target group is missing. Mystery is great but romance is everything. and some of your books aren't even categorized, like 
Waking Dream or Dream Doctor or Dream Family, basically all of your books except the first one. And I am just NOW looking at it, so I don't know if you are making changes and that is why things are blank under your ranking.

So the only people who are reading your books are the mystery fans who decided to take a look at the first book in your series and liked it. That's it, no one else. No PNR fans. And that is really where the money is.
Good luck.  

Edited to add: And when I click on your series name to find your other books, someone else's books pop up. Your's isn't even on the first page.


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## Sara C (Apr 30, 2014)

With your reviews I'm surprised you're not doing well. I think your covers are great as long as you keep advertising as "New Adult". All I can really recommend is permafree. I tried for over three years to get exposure and permafree is what finally did it for me. Even with KU I think it's worth it, and I especially believe that things will pick back up for permafree once the free trial of KU ends. As far as other vendors, permafree is still definitely worth it. My combined sales of Nook and Apple just about equal what I make on Amazon.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Philip Gibson said:


> I'd say do that.
> 
> There are many authors here who have said they were in the same boat as you until they put their first book in a series as Permafree... after which their books really took off.
> 
> ...


I'm going permafree soon. I hear you can do it fast if you set it free to ibooks. Amazon apparently responds fast to that, like within days. I can't say for sure it's true, but I've seen it posted on other threads here more than once. If you look at the successfull authors many have permafree. I still don't understand why Amazon doesn't just give authors one permafree. It's so good for business. I know I've said that a hundred times. I'm a broken record, but it doesn't make sense to me.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

starkllr said:


> I chose the keywords to try and get into as many (reasonable) categories as possible. These are the keywords for the first book:
> Coming of age, Dreams, Psychic, Romance, amateur, College, New Adult
> 
> I positioned them as mysteries because that's really what carries through the series, more than the romance aspect (they get married at the start of the second book, and there are no breakup-makeup cycles or triangles or anything like that). There's a crime or something similar in each book that the heroine learns about in her dreams and has to solve/contend with, along with whatever's going on in her personal life (being a newlywed, medical school, parenthood, etc). That's why I moved them out of romance and into mystery. It seemed like it made more sense.
> ...


If you want to do select you can always leave one out for the permafree. I'm actually writing a story only for that purpose right now. I'll just have Draft2Digital put it up on Ibooks for free. I'm excited to see if it works. If Amazon doesn't match for some reason, sales on Apple are still likely to pick up, so it's a win either way. One thing I can say for sure is that if you give up you will never get anywhere. I don't have previous experience with permafree, but having free select days helped my sales in the past, so give it a shot.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

BlairErotica said:


> When I look at your first book, the cover suggests to me it is a romance, and a sweet romance at that. But you have it categorized as both mystery and science fiction. So your readers probably aren't finding it. The description suggests it is a paranormal story, but your keywords have gotten it listed as metaphysical.
> 
> I guess my response is that this book (I didn't look at the others) isn't positioned so that readers can know what it is.
> Just one opinion.


This. Decide which genre the plot is. Brand and categorize it that way. My guess is mystery, based on reading a few of the reviews.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Since this thread touches on permafree, does Amazon get upset if you have more than one? Has anyone with more than one series tried going permafree with the first book in multiple series? I was curious as to if I'd get an angry email for trying it.


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## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

katrina46 said:


> Since this thread touches on permafree, does Amazon get upset if you have more than one? Has anyone with more than one series tried going permafree with the first book in multiple series? I was curious as to if I'd get an angry email for trying it.


No, they don't get upset. Lots of people do it.


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Looks like an alignment issue. You need the cover and the blurb to be in alignment with the genre of the book. When your cover looks like one thing, and your blurb points to another, you're confusing the reader. Get them all aligned and you'll start selling. It's not a matter of marketing, usually, because Amazon does a good job of putting books in front of readers. It's a matter of making sure your packaging hooks the reader that wants to read your kind of book.

Know what I mean?


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

PamelaKelley said:


> No, they don't get upset. Lots of people do it.


Thanks. I think that's my next move.


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## Fishbowl Helmet (Jan 12, 2014)

starkllr said:


> What Am I Doing Wrong?


You haven't accepted the truth that you can do everything just right but still fail. It's so much more about luck than anyone cares to admit.

There's only so much you can do, only so much you can control. Write the best book you can. Get it professionally edited. Get a professional cover. Put it in the most accurate categories and use your keywords well. Market the best you can. After that, it's 100% luck.


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## VEwoodlake (Jul 11, 2014)

Fishbowl Helmet said:


> There's only so much you can do, only so much you can control. Write the best book you can. Get it professionally edited. Get a professional cover. Put it in the most accurate categories and use your keywords well. Market the best you can. After that, it's 100% luck.


True. But OP can also control whether or not he writes exclusively in an underperforming series. If he's a good writer (and his readers seem to think so), then he can improve his odds of breaking out by abandoning the underperforming series and trying something else. Seven titles is a good enough run.


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## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

VEwoodlake said:


> True. But OP can also control whether or not he writes exclusively in an underperforming series. If he's a good writer (and his readers seem to think so), then he can improve his odds of breaking out by abandoning the underperforming series and trying something else. Seven titles is a good enough run.


True, but as some pointed out, the books may benefit from being listed in a more suitable category. I would try placing them in a better category before moving on to a different series. Honestly, I am dumbfounded that they aren't selling. From what I have seen, I would think they would be good sellers. I love the premise--it's fresh and seems like something a lot of people would enjoy. I suspect the category issue and keywords could very well be part of the problem.

I see your point and agree, however, but only after first correcting any issues that may be contributing to the lackluster sales.


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## valeriec80 (Feb 24, 2011)

Oh.  Hugs. I remember a similar post from you a few months ago.

I recommend not making posts like this anymore, because all you're going to get are comments that are variations and combination of the following:

-Change your cover, blurb, titles, categories, keywords, etc.
-Write something different
-Do some promo
-Go permafree
-I read your sample and you need to hire a better editor and/or join a critique group
-Sometimes even really good things don't sell

So, there you go, that's the combined sum total knowledge of the whole of Kboards.

Truth is, we're just as clueless as you as to why you haven't taken off. 

I know how scary it is to be worried about money. That kind of anxiety is no fun. I really hope you figure out something to pay your rent, and I'm pulling for you.

This business breaks your heart so often, I swear. It's amazing we do it at all.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

Fishbowl Helmet said:


> You haven't accepted the truth that you can do everything just right but still fail. It's so much more about luck than anyone cares to admit.
> 
> There's only so much you can do, only so much you can control. Write the best book you can. Get it professionally edited. Get a professional cover. Put it in the most accurate categories and use your keywords well. Market the best you can. After that, it's 100% luck.


I think maybe ten percent of it is perseverance, too. Actually, starting a thread asking what you are doing wrong so you can change some things is a smart move. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results, they say. Now you have some new suggestions.


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## anniejocoby (Aug 11, 2013)

I have to chime in here,  just because I always do. But - permafree.  YESTERDAY. Seriously.  I got no traction on my books until I went permafree.  Zero. Nada. The first three languished at around the 150 000 to 250 000 range until I went permafree.  My second series - same thing. Couldn't get arrested until Book one went permafree.  My third series - I have the one book out, and that book belly flopped out of the gate. Why?  It doesn't have a permafree lead-in.  So,  yeah, without permafree,  I struggled to clear a few hundred dollars a month.  With it? I managed to make over $60,000 in three months (May, June and July). This month is going well,  too.

I should also note that permafree doesn't just help you on Amazon.  It helps you on other platforms.  I make $150 - $200 a day on Apple through my series. Freebies are the best way to get noticed there.  Nook has been good,  too. I went to the RWA convention,  and went to the seminar on iTunes.  When someone asked how to get traction there, the panel pretty much said "make a book free." These are bestsellers saying this.

Good luck!


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

What I saw as the most helpful replies on this board are: 

Go permafree. 

A great deal of this is about luck, and it's more than anyone cares to admit.

Your expectations based on how long you've been published.

Try something new.


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## Joseph J Bailey (Jun 28, 2013)

Someone else might have said this as well but you can put more than a single word for each keyword on Amazon. 

If I remember right, you have around 25 characters to play with (I think spaces count as well). That way, you can push more related terms to find/broaden your audience. Choosing the right ones is where I find the greatest challenge...


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Permafree the first book. Upload your books everywhere that will have you. More eyeballs = more opportunity. Seriously, forget Select for the time being.

Don't expect wonders from permafree. Over here, you will only hear about the successes, but there are many people who have done the permafree things and are still not selling all that well. Sometimes also it takes time. However, with a permafree, you will sell more than you're selling now. That's almost a guarantee. How much more no one can tell.

Also, start another series in a slightly different genre. Paranormal romance seems a logical step.


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## bluwulf (Feb 1, 2014)

Take the advice for permafree -don't wait anymore.  KU has not caused the death of permafree.  I still remember your post from a few months ago.

The other thing - I read your "look inside" and you can write.  You already have 7 books in this series.  Last time you posted I think you had 5 or 6  
( when people suggested write more books - I don't think they meant to add more to a badly performing series )  You need to start a different series.  

I am getting ready to publish a three part series next month and if I don't see some traction with it - I"m moving on to another one. 

Don't sit and wait.  What you are doing now isn't working.  Keep trying until something works.


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

starkllr said:


> And I just don't understand what the problem is with them.


I agree that you should work on your categories again. Believe me, your books are not cozy mysteries, and putting them in that category will tend to ostracize readers. Cozy mystery readers are VERY picky (maybe the pickiest audience out there) and many don't want to see anything that doesn't fit into their idea of what a cozy really is.

I write what I call "mysterious" stories, but have been criticized because I called some of my stories mysteries. That's how persnickety some of them are.

Those who mentioned using supernatural or psychic were on the money. I really do like your covers. They seem NA to me, too. I don't mind the typography like some mentioned.

Good luck!

bobbi c.


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

vlmain said:


> True, but as some pointed out, the books may benefit from being listed in a more suitable category. I would try placing them in a better category before moving on to a different series. Honestly, I am dumbfounded that they aren't selling. From what I have seen, I would think they would be good sellers. I love the premise--it's fresh and seems like something a lot of people would enjoy. I suspect the category issue and keywords could very well be part of the problem.
> 
> I see your point and agree, however, but only after first correcting any issues that may be contributing to the lackluster sales.


This.. these books scream "Romance New Adult". Which is a very hot category and where these titles should be listed IMHO. I would suggest the author contact KDP support and get some help relisting those books in the right place. They've helped me do so in the past and even moved a few books for me.


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

They might scream romance new adult, but in another thread HM Ward said that men on covers sells better NA than women. 

Sorry to the OP to fill your head with contradictory advice. I do see your covers as certainly romantic, or having a very strong romantic theme.


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## derekailes2014 (Aug 4, 2014)

I know exactly how you feel.  I've had zero luck selling my anthologies on Amazon.  I am doing everything right.  I make most of my sales from book fairs and public appearances.  Next month I will have a online store added to my official website to sell to the readers directly since I do get 500 to 1,000 hits on my website per month.  Never give up.


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

I know this is the advice I often give, but have you bought and used this book? The keyword section is *invaluable*. 
It's not just romance either; teaches you about and gives access to all the keywords you need. http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Kindle-Marketing-Amazons-Ecosystem-ebook/dp/B00E04F6D8


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

Or you could just use KDPs keywords guide... straight from the horse's mouth and free |

https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A19G4ONBAU6NO3


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

*secretly saves that link*


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

As someone who has read three of the books and plans to read the rest (excellent books, btw) (hi, JJ!), I would say get them into Paranormal and Paranormal Suspense. That's what they are, and I think that's where the readers for these books are.

Also, Permafree. There are pros and cons, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't, but it's certainly worth a try and after you've given it a good shot (several months would be my advice) and you don't like how it's going, you can always change that.

And maybe it is time to try writing something different, even while you're still writing this series. People who think they might not be interested in the Dream series might be drawn in with something else, decide they like your writing and storytelling style, and then give it a try.

(Says she who sells 4-5 books a month   So take my advice for whatever you think it's worth!)


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## Mike Dennis (Apr 26, 2010)

Fishbowl Helmet said:


> You haven't accepted the truth that you can do everything just right but still fail. It's so much more about luck than anyone cares to admit.
> 
> There's only so much you can do, only so much you can control. Write the best book you can. Get it professionally edited. Get a professional cover. Put it in the most accurate categories and use your keywords well. Market the best you can. After that, it's 100% luck.


With all due respect, I would heartily disagree that it's "much more about luck than anyone cares to admit." I know this violates one of the indie writer's principal articles of faith, but I have to stand by it.

Self-publishing is not gambling. There are no random cards coming off a deck, no random rolls of the dice or spins of a roulette wheel. It may seem like it sometimes, but it's not true. Many self-published writers have achieved wild success and have posted about it on this forum. They may start off selling just a few books a month, but by their fifth or sixth month, often they'll be selling 10-20,000 copies a month and say with a shrug, "Just lucky, I guess."

To which I reply, "Impossible." Absolutely impossible.

Luck cannot put a book in front of enough pairs of eyes in one month to sell 20,000 copies of a new novel by an unknown author. It is a physical impossibility. Only intense promotional activity can achieve that. Once Amazon sees a ton of books being sold, they pick up the ball and begin internal promotion designed to shoot the book into the stratosphere. That's how a book gets real traction, and luck has nothing to do with it.

The OP is facing a tough situation. He/she has written several books in a series, presumably good ones. The covers and the descriptions don't match up, as pointed out earlier in this thread, and changing that will certainly help. But it's not a guarantee. It's like the restaurant that opens in a tight market. The owner is sure the food is good, the prices are right, and the service is crisp and efficient. But he can't bring people through the door and a year later, he's out of business. There are a thousand excuses, to be sure, but few real reasons, and unfortunately, those reasons will likely remain unknown to him forever. It is, however, certain that he did something wrong along the way. The OP may well find him/herself in that predicament.

I'm hoping the cover/description change will turn things around, but if it doesn't, I can promise you luck will have nothing to do with it.


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

Mike Dennis said:


> Luck cannot put a book in front of enough pairs of eyes in one month to sell 20,000 copies of a new novel by an unknown author. It is a physical impossibility. Only intense promotional activity can achieve that. Once Amazon sees a ton of books being sold, they pick up the ball and begin internal promotion designed to shoot the book into the stratosphere. That's how a book gets real traction, and luck has nothing to do with it.


Well, no one disputes that luck is etheral or magical  Luck is the word we use to describe variables we are unaware of, or not in control of. Amazon deciding to internally promote one series over another is 'luck' in the sense that we can't control which books they favour.

If a writer happens to be writing a series the populace is craving at the right time of the year, and they didn't predict that would happen, as many struggle to do, then the writer may call that luck. While a strategist, who makes a guesstimate, may think himself quite intelligent for predicting it.

When I hear people say 'luck' got me there, all I hear them say is they did what they did, and if it took and sold well, then they did the right things. We all think we are doing the 'right things'... if you can give us a list of those right things to tell us exactly what they are that will guarantee us making 20,000 sales by month 6, then it is no longer luck.



All people can do is talk about what they did that led to their sales, if that happens to be getting the books in a position where the variables of 'luck' will take hold of them... then that doesn't ensure it works for the next person.

Either way, to say luck, is to take the blame off oneself as ultimately, we can't blame ourselves for not knowing what we did wrong, if we are doing what other people, and the very successful people, have told us is the right thing to do.

I hope that wasn't as convoluted as it sounded in my head


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## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

Your covers are beautiful but they aren't doing the job for you. I think something completely different from what you have described is their content when I look at them. They are also, though well branded, a bit monotonous and easily mistaken for one another.

Take a leap and change them up. There isn't that much to lose and you can always go back to the originals if new ones don't work.......


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## Charmaine (Jul 20, 2012)

Well after reading all of your blurbs and looking at your covers, 
I have to admit I was surprised they weren't YA Paranormal Romance or YA Romance. 
There seems to be an issue of branding.



Kyra Halland said:


> As someone who has read three of the books and plans to read the rest (excellent books, btw) (hi, JJ!), I would say get them into Paranormal and Paranormal Suspense. That's what they are, and I think that's where the readers for these books are.


After reading the blurbs, I was would've classify these books as *Paranormal Cozy Mysteries*.
It just seems as though your blurbs, covers, and category choices are all fighting each other. 
I feel bad for saying this, but you need to do quite a bit of work, before the right audience finds these books.


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## Fishbowl Helmet (Jan 12, 2014)

Mike Dennis said:


> Self-publishing is not gambling.


And this is the part where you try to sell me your guaranteed method to success, right? Otherwise, yeah. It's a gamble. Why is it a gamble? Because there's no guarantee. Funny that. Especially since you say so yourself here in a bit...



Mike Dennis said:


> There are no random cards coming off a deck, no random rolls of the dice or spins of a roulette wheel. It may seem like it sometimes, but it's not true.


The innumerable things you have utterly no control over just happening to go your way that generates that success... that's your random cards and dice rolls. That they go your way is good luck; that they go against you is bad luck. Because you have literally zero control over it.



Mike Dennis said:


> Many self-published writers have achieved wild success and have posted about it on this forum. They may start off selling just a few books a month, but by their fifth or sixth month, often they'll be selling 10-20,000 copies a month and say with a shrug, "Just lucky, I guess."


So "be the next Hugh Howey" is an appropriate business plan now? Damn, if only I'd have known it was that easy.



Mike Dennis said:


> Luck cannot put a book in front of enough pairs of eyes in one month to sell 20,000 copies of a new novel by an unknown author. It is a physical impossibility. Only intense promotional activity can achieve that. Once Amazon sees a ton of books being sold, they pick up the ball and begin internal promotion designed to shoot the book into the stratosphere. That's how a book gets real traction, and luck has nothing to do with it.


No, but luck is what makes that one reader happen to really love your book to happen to have ten minutes right now to write a review or happen to be emailing a friend who's also an avid reader. Notice how it's basically impossible for even the biggest publishers in the world to guarantee a successful book? That's luck. Pure and simple.



Mike Dennis said:


> The OP is facing a tough situation. He/she has written several books in a series, presumably good ones. The covers and the descriptions don't match up, as pointed out earlier in this thread, and changing that will certainly help. _*But it's not a guarantee*_...


So if there's no guarantee... that means there's a chance of failure despite whatever work is put in. That's the definition of luck.

Here's the quick reality of the situation. The vast majority of books don't sell. The best writing, the best covers, the best edits, the best marketing can't guarantee a successful book. If you think it does, go try to sell that to the big publishers. They'll laugh you out of their offices.

You say the OP can work his ass off and it's not a gamble, which means no chance, no luck, no risk, which means that there's a guarantee that his work will pay off. Well, what happens when it doesn't? He'll think he did something wrong and could have worked harder, could have done something different. Endlessly working and tweaking to get them right. That way lies madness. I say the OP can work his ass off and that it _is_ a gamble, that there's no guarantee that his work will pay off. Well, what happens when it doesn't? He'll know that he did the best he could and be able to move on to the next project.

OP: Do the best you possibly can with all the factors you can control. But understand that you can't control everything. Learn to let go of what's out of your hands. You can't make a given reader see your book. Even if you can, you can't make them read it. Nor make them like it. Nor make them review it. Nor make them recommend it. But you have control over a lot of factors, namely: The best writing you can manage, pro editing, pro covers, match covers to genre, match categories to actual genre of the book, good keywords, good blurb, market your stuff, and get it up on as many sales channels as possible. But as Mike here says, there's no guarantee. Which means it's luck. Do everything you can to give yourself the best possible chance. Put yourself in the best possible position. But there is simply no guarantee to any of this. Whether you hit, when you hit, which book hits... that's all up to luck. All you can do is the best you can to be in a position to take advantage of that stroke of luck if it happens. Once you've done all that, let it go and move on to the next book.


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

I ask myself this question every single day. I've got 5 million readers on Wattpad who love my books. I've been working my ass off non-stop for four years. I'm blew my savings on marketing that doesn't work. I haven't had a holiday or a day off since 2010. I work every day, including weekends. I've done all the promotions I can find/still afford. I have a perma-free book. I have a variety of genres to attract different readers. I've put out eleven books, not counting foreign editions. I've even landed a book deal with Harlequin, which I think means that my writing is up to scratch (hell, I structurally edit now too, so I KNOW my books are up to scratch). I've spent countless days and hours researching keywords and trying to play the algorithm game, and I'm an SEM by trade, which means that I make things come first in Google for a living! I can sell coffins to healthy people on Google, but selling a book to a reader who actually wants it on Amazon? Not a chance. I can write CSS, HTML, XHTML, PHP and VB, so I create websites, ebooks and do graphic design. I've even designed covers for authors at Penguin in the past. I can do EVERYTHING. I get a 100 emails a day from readers who are asking me for more books, and yet....

As an indie I make $100 a month, if that. The promotions that I pay for sell a couple of copies, if that. What works for everyone else just seems to deliver trolls to my books, which is insane since they're trolling invisible books (and the point is?)

I love the concept of indie. I'd love it if I made a living from it. But the way things are going, I'm thinking about ditching the indie side completely and focusing on Harlequin only books from now on. I can't see the point in keeping going on the indie side because this appears to be my experience as an indie author:

"Now, let's analyze what's been working for us. NOT A GOD d*mn THING'S been working for us. Like this godd*mn suit doesn't work for me... and this stinking tie... and this godd*mned shirt. IT DOESN'T WORK FOR ME." Coach Rig - Necessary Roughness.

So, you're not alone. I don't know what the answer is, but I know that your book covers look epic to me. I'd buy them if I saw them on Amazon, so I suspect that the illusive lack of visibility on Amazon is the reason that your books don't sell. Some of us are invisible on Amazon. The algorithm doesn't do anything for me. I don't know why it likes some books more than others, but it does.

This was supposed to cheer you up, but I ended up whining instead. But, you're not alone in the 'Not a god d*mn thing's been working for us' club. I'm right there with you. My advice is try other places. Amazon doesn't work for everyone. It doesn't work for me.

Try other book stores or publishers. What works for one author doesn't work for another. I found success on Wattpad and with Harlequin. After finishing my three books for Harlequin, I was going to focus on indie books for the rest of this year. But after another run of flop promotions, I'm just going to finish off the indie series that I promised my fans and focus on what works for me instead.

I'd focus on spreading your work around to new places. Be wary of shyster publishers (I'm talking about those guys who spam on the ABNA forums and steal your books). Try out big publishers. They're not all evil, and yeah, you make more as an indie if you sell a book. You don't make [crap] as an indie if no one can see your book. Weigh up the 25% of 100k books sold vs 70% of nothing when you do your math because it's different for everyone. One path does not suit all. Only sign up for things that allow you to indie on the side, and keep your options eternally open. Try other book stores, other ways of distributing your indie books. Keep your options open and try everything. I recommend sticking a perma-free on Wattpad. It's a good place to find new readers.

I hope this helps.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Hi. I'm afraid I didn't read the second page of replies as the first page all said very similar things - the main thing being GO PERMA-FREE ON BOOK ONE ASAP! I'm another one who got no traction until I did that. I went perma-free when I released the third book and it made a world of difference!

The other major thing I would say to you is that if you are in this to make money then why the flip are you in select? For goodness sake - *get out now!* I made almost double on google this month as I made on amazon, and we're not talking small change, you could pay your rent and your bills with what I made on google this month alone, and I've only been selling on google for four months. Add to that the few hundred I got from Smashwords (where I don't do well despite the fact that they distribute to B&N and ibooks) and I did quite nicely overall. I wouldn't consider my Amazon earnings alone to be all that nice.

I hope that helps inspire you to get out there and not just rely on Amazon. I put one series (that isn't in my signature) into select to check out the power of KU, and I've had all of one borrow! Ooh, restrain me while I celebrate LOL


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## UltraRob (Dec 5, 2011)

I'm going to say the one thing nobody else here seems willing to (directly). 

Stop writing, go out and get a real job (however you wish to define that) to pay the rent and put food on the table. When you've got free time and/or money in the bank, come back to writing and follow the great advice that other people here are giving. Even if your books took off tomorrow, your royalties wouldn't come in time to pay your rent anytime soon, and real practical life and work need to come first. 

Writing is indeed a gamble. The right book, the right style, the right content, for the right market is what it takes. Nobody knows if they have that or not, and the majority of writers never will for a mass audience. It's better to view writing as an Indie as a hobby than a career choice, because the odds are for most people that's all it will ever be. 

Rob


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

UltraRob said:


> I'm going to say the one thing nobody else here seems willing to (directly).
> 
> Stop writing, go out and get a real job (however you wish to define that) to pay the rent and put food on the table. When you've got free time and/or money in the bank, come back to writing and follow the great advice that other people here are giving. Even if your books took off tomorrow, your royalties wouldn't come in time to pay your rent anytime soon, and real practical life and work need to come first.
> 
> ...


Nobody has said this, because the OP asked for advice about her books, not about how to make a living. I'm sure what you said would have occurred to her, but it seems kinda rude (OK, very rude) to just assume that everyone can find a replacement job at the drop of a hat. This thread isn't about that.


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

Thanks, everyone for the advice and thoughts.

And to answer UltraRob - you are right, and that's what I have been doing (I didn't go into that because this isn't a career advice board) - I am looking for a job (I've got an interview tomorrow, actually.  Not my first choice by any stretch, but if it comes through, it will definitely pay the bills); I've been searching frantically since I lost my job last week.  

It was the combination of stress from that and lack of tangible success with the books and several other personal issues all hitting at the same time that promoted the initial post.  I just really felt like I needed a "win" in some aspect of my life right now, and that's why I posted, in hopes of a "quick fix" even though I know there is no such thing.


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

UltraRob said:


> I'm going to say the one thing nobody else here seems willing to (directly).
> 
> Stop writing, go out and get a real job (however you wish to define that) to pay the rent and put food on the table. When you've got free time and/or money in the bank, come back to writing and follow the great advice that other people here are giving. Even if your books took off tomorrow, your royalties wouldn't come in time to pay your rent anytime soon, and real practical life and work need to come first.
> 
> ...


I have a job. I run my own business in fact, a highly successful one since I'm one of the few UK experts in my field. I want to sell books because I want it to be my new business. I believe that doing what you love for a living is the secret to eternal happiness. I want eternal happiness. I like my job. I love writing. It's a no brainer to want to make the business you love successful.

'Get a job' is not an appropriate response to someone who already works their ass off on their books.

I've heard the whole 'no one owes you a living' speech, and you know what, it's BS. If I create something amazing in my day job, people jump through hoops to pay me for it. The only reason that writers don't make money is because the distribution of their work is lost in an unorganized sea of other books. If it was better organized, everyone would get paid for their work. It's a system flaw that removes visibility. In the ideal system, everyone would get a shot at visibility, not just a lucky few.


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2014)

anniejocoby said:


> I have to chime in here, just because I always do. But - permafree. YESTERDAY. Seriously. I got no traction on my books until I went permafree. Zero. Nada. The first three languished at around the 150 000 to 250 000 range until I went permafree. My second series - same thing. Couldn't get arrested until Book one went permafree. My third series - I have the one book out, and that book belly flopped out of the gate. Why? It doesn't have a permafree lead-in. So, yeah, without permafree, I struggled to clear a few hundred dollars a month. With it? I managed to make over $60,000 in three months (May, June and July). This month is going well, too.
> 
> I should also note that permafree doesn't just help you on Amazon. It helps you on other platforms. I make $150 - $200 a day on Apple through my series. Freebies are the best way to get noticed there. Nook has been good, too. I went to the RWA convention, and went to the seminar on iTunes. When someone asked how to get traction there, the panel pretty much said "make a book free." These are bestsellers saying this.
> 
> Good luck!


You'll probably get hit with one-star reviews if you go permafree. The money you'll make will help you forget about those one-stars, but if you're the type who gets depressed over a one-star (something I see at this board all the time) despite the money you'll be making, you'd better get a thick skin and you'd better get it quick.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I haven't read the books, but just based on the OP description I would say Paranormal Mystery. I have been looking at more in that genre. I am reading the Terri Reid series which is basically a former cop, she almost dies and from that point on can see ghosts. Each book is basically about solving a case having to do with either the ghosts or the ghosts are helping. I think there are lots of us readers that are looking for paranormal stuff that is not vamps, weres, witches, angels and demons. Just about "other". Ghosts, dreams to me fall under that. 


I think trying to pack so much stuff into something makes it confusing. Keep it simple for readers. Not sure if the covers convey paranormal mystery though. 

Good luck though.


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

ClaireChilton said:


> The only reason that writers don't make money is because the distribution of their work is lost in an unorganized sea of other books. If it was better organized, everyone would get paid for their work. It's a system flaw that removes visibility. In the ideal system, everyone would get a shot at visibility, not just a lucky few.


Wow, this is big stuff. I love it when I read things that make my brain expand. Of course, now my question is -- how to do this? What can authors do to help organize this so the right people find our books. You're right, there is a sea of other books out there, and our books get buried amongst the others.

bobbi c.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

starkllr said:


> I chose the keywords to try and get into as many (reasonable) categories as possible. These are the keywords for the first book:
> Coming of age, Dreams, Psychic, Romance, amateur, College, New Adult
> 
> I positioned them as mysteries because that's really what carries through the series, more than the romance aspect (they get married at the start of the second book, and there are no breakup-makeup cycles or triangles or anything like that). There's a crime or something similar in each book that the heroine learns about in her dreams and has to solve/contend with, along with whatever's going on in her personal life (being a newlywed, medical school, parenthood, etc). That's why I moved them out of romance and into mystery. It seemed like it made more sense.
> ...


Oh, hey, those sound similar to my books, only I have a guy protagonist.  I'll post a few on my author Facebook page for you--not that I have a huge reach or anything, but every little bit helps. I'll point out the similarity and maybe a few of my readers will give them a try. Are they in KU?


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

Mary, they're not inKU.  But I've started the permafree process rolling.

And thank you!  I'll post yours on my FB, too.

And again, thanks to everybody in this thread.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

locking for review -- there have been reports.



have read through -- not so bad as I was led to believe but I did prune a few posts, either modified or deleted.  Let's keep it courteous, eh?


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## Krazykiwi (Oct 7, 2013)

I do have a question, strictly from a reader point of view: Why is there an illustrator credit on the book on Amazon?

As a reader, it is shouting either "amateur self-publisher" (if it's actually a cover artist credit) or "graphic novel" which I wouldn't mind, but then I'd expect it to be noted somewhere that's what it is. Either way, it makes me want to slide on by. If there actually are interior illustrations justifying the credit, that's very unusual for a contemporary novel, and I'd still expect to see it noted somewhere. (FWIW, I feel the same way about editor credits on things that aren't anthologies, it looks weird, and makes me pass by the book).

(I hope that didn't come across too harsh, and I'm a little interested to know what others think too.)


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

bobbic said:


> Wow, this is big stuff. I love it when I read things that make my brain expand. Of course, now my question is -- how to do this? What can authors do to help organize this so the right people find our books. You're right, there is a sea of other books out there, and our books get buried amongst the others.
> 
> bobbi c.


On Amazon, I don't think authors can do anything. They don't control the system, Amazon does. Amazon can easily give every book a shot in the limelight for a week during it's release to see if it sinks or swims. They choose not to, so all books are born invisible, leaving writers to claw their way to the surface from day one. As the marketplace becomes more crowded, it is a more difficult task to reach any readers. At the top of the pile on Amazon, you'll find the same books or the same authors. The algorithm, imo, needs to have a different rule for new books and writers to get a look in. It doesn't. That's just my opinion on it, but it's totally possible. When KDP Select launched free days, there was a shift in the algorithm that led to the creation of a lot of indie bestsellers. I think that's the closest Amazon ever came to giving a shot to new books and authors. But on Amazon, it's not anything we can control. I'm sure some indies know how to make the Ammy algorithm do magic for them, but there are many more who don't.

It's not the books or the covers. Those come into play after a user clicks on the book, but they mean nothing if no one ever sees them. As an SEM for over ten years now, I know that people are more likely to buy things that are put in their faces. 100% of people will click on the first thing they see (something ranking at #1), and 30% of those people will buy it. 50% of people will buy from the top 5. 30% of those people will buy it. 25% of people will buy from page 1. 30% of those people will buy it. This is an industry average in every sector. If you're not on the first page, you don't sell much. If you're on page 100, you don't sell anything. Regardless of quality, reviews, and everything else, people buy what they can see. Without visibility, your book doesn't exist.

I can totally understand how frustrating it is for artists who put their heart and soul into writing an amazing book only to find that no one buys it, and I can understand how it can depress them and make them feel bad about that book, but the reality is that there is one thing that makes items sell online, visibility. If you don't have it, you don't sell anything.

On Amazon, you can't even buy visibility. It's like 10,000 just to talk to their marketing team. The system is so random in how it displays products that you have to basically promote Amazon and send your own customers to it. At which point, why not promote your own site and send customers there instead for 100% royalties. I think Amazon needs to sweeten the pot so that new books have a shot in the limelight, and I don't understand why they don't. It doesn't cost them anything, and it wouldn't harm the ranking system. It would freshen up the bestseller lists if they flashed a new book at readers for a week to give it a shot in the limelight.

You can, however, control the system on your own web space. You can market your book in an environment you control and give your own book a boost there, which is why I tend to market my own website these days rather than someone else's. I used to always post up links to Amazon, but if I'd put half as much energy into my own website, I'd probably be making a lot more money now because my books come first on my website.

I'd love Amazon to give new books a boost in ranking for a short time, but it doesn't look like they're going to. If I have to create my own visibility, I'd rather promote my own site from scratch and just link to Amazon there for kindle readers.

That's my take on it anyway. If you're jumping through painful hoops and working your ass off on marketing for years, market yourself on a web space that you can control. So the problem here is not that anyone is doing anything wrong as a writer. They're just not visible enough on Amazon. Since making yourself visible on Amazon is virtually impossible (I speak from experience) then looking for other outlets and seeing what kind of visibility they offer might be a better option.


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

ClaireChilton said:


> The only reason that writers don't make money is because the distribution of their work is lost in an unorganized sea of other books. If it was better organized, everyone would get paid for their work. It's a system flaw that removes visibility. In the ideal system, everyone would get a shot at visibility, not just a lucky few.


The system is designed to benefit the owners of that system. If that system also benefits others, then it is by accident. This is the nature of big corporations. Their goal is to maximise profit (because of capitalism and cue speech about unmonitored privitisation -- which I'll spare you from), and thus the system will always be unfair.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

ClaireChilton said:


> Amazon can easily give every book a shot in the limelight for a week during it's release to see if it sinks or swims.


With 2,000 books being published a day, that's not really true.


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

yodaoneforme said:


> With 2,000 books being published a day, that's not really true.


I know! Amazon could send out an email with 2000 links to "books just in". Can anyone say spam?


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

KJCOLT said:


> The system is designed to benefit the owners of that system. If that system also benefits others, then it is by accident. This is the nature of big corporations. Their goal is to maximise profit (because of capitalism and cue speech about unmonitored privitisation -- which I'll spare you from), and thus the system will always be unfair.


That's completely true. The system is geared towards putting popular things into people's faces. That's why the ranking is based on sales. Amazon use popularity as the key driving force behind their algorithm. It does nothing for new products or new authors unless blind luck drops by. But since I'm a new author for readers, and my books are all new to them too, it doesn't benefit me to focus heavily on Amazon because Amazon's system won't do anything for me.


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

yodaoneforme said:


> With 2,000 books being published a day, that's not really true.


They have hundreds of sub-category lists and 16 slots on the first page. They could give them a day, an hour, some kind of limelight.

**Edit: Also, that's not counting the millions of keywords. 90% of customers use 'search' to find products. Any ranking boost will also boost the book for keywords, like: 'funny romance books', driving the book towards the customers who searched for that. There are more keywords searched for than books posted up every day. There are more readers than there are books.


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

KJCOLT said:


> I know! Amazon could send out an email with 2000 links to "books just in". Can anyone say spam?


I never said they'd send out an email, which is direct marketing. I suggested they boost the book rank initially to give it a chance at appearing in front of the customers on their website, of which there are millions of opportunities. People are already out there looking for products. Do you really think they want to see the same 5 books every time they search for something? I know I don't.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

I'm probably coming into this from a different philosophy, but...

Popular books are popular for a reason. Yeah, because they're popular, because they've struck a chord with people. People want to be able to find those books when they're looking for them and customers will understandably get annoyed if they can't find them. Not even publishers really know what makes a popular book. If they did, they'd be making millions.

I don't think any retailer owes me a fair go. They allow me to list my books, but without vetting new books, they'd be crazy to give regular slots to newly published books at random. Most retailers do, however, already send out regular genre newsletters that do include self-published books. I think that's enough. 

Fairness does not come into it. It would come into it if all books were equal, but they're not, so you can't even talk about fairness.

I want a retailer to simply list my books. Alsobots are fine. Keyword magic only works if your books are already popular and most won't be, ever. Which is why I roll my eyes at most advice about keywords. As long as your book is classified in the right genre (which the books by the OP don't appear to be), it's all you can do. Keywords don't help a previously unpopular book magically become popular.

If you're in the dungeons of popularity where most of us reside, the best you can do is to keep concentrating on your work as main priority. A secondary priority is to make sure your book is available in as many different places as possible, and do a bit of advertising.

If you want someone to do the pushing for you, look for a publisher, not at Amazon.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

ClaireChilton said:


> They have hundreds of sub-category lists and 16 slots on the first page. They could give them a day, an hour, some kind of limelight.
> 
> **Edit: Also, that's not counting the millions of keywords. 90% of customers use 'search' to find products. Any ranking boost will also boost the book for keywords, like: 'funny romance books', driving the book towards the customers who searched for that. There are more keywords searched for than books posted up every day. There are more readers than there are books.


Exactly what advertising function allows 2,000 books a day to get some limelight? I mean, seriously, are they supposed to stop promoting the big books so they can promote every new book published? That makes absolutely no sense.


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

YodaRead said:


> Exactly what advertising function allows 2,000 books a day to get some limelight? I mean, seriously, are they supposed to stop promoting the big books so they can promote every new book published? That makes absolutely no sense.


That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that relying on Amazon to sell your book isn't a very realistic expectation. Although on a side note, Wattpad manage to give their books limelight when they first publish them. There is what is achievable and what you want, and they are two separate things. In online marketing, you go for what you can achieve, not by luck or opinion, but by data and statistics. It's crazy to put all your efforts in marketing into a system that you have no control over. It's also delusional to think that you will make a lot of money on Amazon if you get 'lucky'.

If you run this as a business, and most of us do, then you need to look at what you can achieve. You're more likely to sell your books to people who visit your website because the books rank #1 there, so it stands to reason that driving customers there will provide better results for you than sending them to Amazon will. They may still buy the book on Amazon, but through a direct link to it from your site. You also need to look at what you can sustain. No one can take your own website away, but what if Amazon dropped dead one day? What happens to your business then?

Why focus all your energy on Amazon, a system that you have no control over, when you can focus that energy elsewhere in places that give you that control. I'm not saying don't put a book on Amazon. I'm saying that the system isn't built to provide everyone with a fair playing field. Some people are more popular, and I don't want my future resting on if I get to be prom queen or not.

Is it achievable to rank high in Amazon through hard work and marketing? No.
Is it achievable to deliver 1000 new visitors to my website every month, 30% of which will buy books? Yes.

So no profit vs 300 buyers paying $3 royalties.

Also, the cool thing is that you can have both. You can get people on your website and sell on Amazon. The failure method, in my experience, is to focus on Amazon at all. Stick the book up, just like any other site, then focus on your own site. That's the win-win if you ask me.

Also, I don't think a retailer should give me anything, but if they want me to be exclusive and cut out all my other business opportunities, they better give me something worth trading it for, and Select doesn't.


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## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

ClaireChilton said:


> Is it achievable to rank high in Amazon through hard work and marketing? No.
> Is it achievable to deliver 1000 new visitors to my website every month, 30% of which will buy books? Yes.
> 
> So no profit vs 300 buyers paying $3 royalties.
> ...


I do believe having your own site is important, however, why would you allow the sales to take place on your own site where they have no chance of increasing rank and visibility on Amazon, when you could direct those 300 buyers to make their purchase on Amazon, where it absolutely will impact rank and visibility? The immediate royalties may be better at 100% profit, but the long term benefit is far better at Amazon.


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## LovetoWrite (Aug 12, 2014)

Noob question here:  What in the world is permafree?  Is this the same as Kindle Unlimited?  ...And my learning curve continues. lol


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## Jamkins (Jun 21, 2014)

LovetoWrite said:


> Noob question here: What in the world is permafree? Is this the same as Kindle Unlimited? ...And my learning curve continues. lol


Permafree is setting the first book in a series permanently free. I have heard that it's a great way to get readers to try out your books, especially if you are a new author. It's not the same thing as Kindle Unlimited, because you will not get paid for purchases or borrows.


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

vlmain said:


> I do believe having your own site is important, however, why would you allow the sales to take place on your own site where they have no chance of increasing rank and visibility on Amazon, when you could direct those 300 buyers to make their purchase on Amazon, where it absolutely will impact rank and visibility? The immediate royalties may be better at 100% profit, but the long term benefit is far better at Amazon.


That's a decision I was debating over for a while because on one hand, ranking high on Amazon can bring in more customers to your book sales overall, so pointing them all at Amazon is beneficial in that way. On the other hand, you gain 100% royalties on your own website, and you can offer epubs and a wider range of products (memorabilia etc.). On top of that, if people review and leave comments on your site, your site ranks higher in search engines, bringing in more visitors to it.

At the moment, I'm testing out both to see what takes. My site sells epubs only, but I'm unsure on if it will continue to. I was thinking of only giving out my perma-free books on my own site as well as Amazon because it's a nice way to gather new visitors and comments on the site without touching the sales rank on Amazon. I'm still testing that out, but I think it depends on where you want to gather your readers from and how a high a royalty you want to get.


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## kjbryen (Jul 3, 2014)

LovetoWrite said:


> Noob question here: What in the world is permafree? Is this the same as Kindle Unlimited? ...And my learning curve continues. lol


Permafree is a book you put on Amazon or any other distribution sites that is permanently free. Kindle Unlimited (or KU) is an Amazon program that readers can sign up for as a monthly subscription. It's sort of like Netflix, where readers can borrow books for free, read them, then move on to the next one. Authors in that program get $2 royalties per borrow, no matter the book price. However, the catch is that if you do KU, you can only be a part of Amazon, not other distribution channels like Barnes and Noble, etc.

At least, that's how I've understood it


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

LovetoWrite said:


> Noob question here: What in the world is permafree? Is this the same as Kindle Unlimited? ...And my learning curve continues. lol


It means 'permanently free', so it's just a book that's always free.  Most people use them to promote a series. They make the first book free to attract readers, and then sell the other books in the series. To make a perma-free, you have to stick the book on another site for free (like Barnes and Noble for example) and then wait for Amazon to price match it to 0.00.

I hope this helps.


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

Krazykiwi said:


> I do have a question, strictly from a reader point of view: Why is there an illustrator credit on the book on Amazon?
> 
> As a reader, it is shouting either "amateur self-publisher" (if it's actually a cover artist credit) or "graphic novel" which I wouldn't mind, but then I'd expect it to be noted somewhere that's what it is. Either way, it makes me want to slide on by. If there actually are interior illustrations justifying the credit, that's very unusual for a contemporary novel, and I'd still expect to see it noted somewhere. (FWIW, I feel the same way about editor credits on things that aren't anthologies, it looks weird, and makes me pass by the book).
> 
> (I hope that didn't come across too harsh, and I'm a little interested to know what others think too.)


Fair question. It's because the original covers were hand-painted by a artist, and I felt like she deserved to be credited. I was also under the (possibly mistaken) understanding that I can't change those credits once the book is published, so I haven't tried since I changed the covers.


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## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

ClaireChilton said:


> That's a decision I was debating over for a while because on one hand, ranking high on Amazon can bring in more customers to your book sales overall, so pointing them all at Amazon is beneficial in that way. On the other hand, you gain 100% royalties on your own website, and you can offer epubs and a wider range of products (memorabilia etc.). On top of that, if people review and leave comments on your site, your site ranks higher in search engines, bringing in more visitors to it.
> 
> At the moment, I'm testing out both to see what takes.


I would be interested in hearing about your results. My concern is that to do this, you would be trading in your potential for long term success for immediate gratification. Regardless of how high a personal website ranks, it would never generate the traffic Amazon does.


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

vlmain said:


> I would be interested in hearing about your results. My concern is that to do this, you would be trading in your potential for long term success for immediate gratification. Regardless of how high a personal website ranks, it would never generate the traffic Amazon does.


I'll let you know the results when I've got it all setup. I think that if the website is successful and bringing in a lot of visitors who like to buy, then you'll still generate the Amazon revenue at the same time. All the readers with Kindles will probably click on the Amazon link, bringing in ranking there, which will generate the Amazon traffic. Also, you'll get a nice Associates payout too if you're in that program. If say, I drive in 1000 customers and 30% buy, it's likely that 60% of them will be Kindle readers who will choose the Kindle button, so the math would look like this:

1000 visitors
300 customers
--180 go to Amazon
--120 shop on other sites

You can just use your site as a funnel to Amazon by giving them only one link to choose from, but that's the beauty of gathering the readers on your site first. You can promote the book store that generates the best revenue stream for you. You can also get in touch with them about new releases and save yourself a lot of promotion nightmares if they're on your website. It just seems far more beneficial to promote your site and then funnel the customers to book stores. Also, the readers benefit if they are fans of your books. They can connect directly with the author on your site.


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

vlmain said:


> I would be interested in hearing about your results. My concern is that to do this, you would be trading in your potential for long term success for immediate gratification. Regardless of how high a personal website ranks, it would never generate the traffic Amazon does.


Not to mention that Amazon has a reputation with customers, and a brand. If your books have a ranking on Amazon, it's something seemingly objective to the buyers. If you just list books on your site, there's no way to know the quality or whether you'll enjoy them without other books to compare them to.

I'm definitely not saying here your books aren't of a high quality, or that your idea won't work, simply playing empathy with readers in an attempt to guide you making the most successful decision for your publishing.

Sincerely, the best of luck with it!


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## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

ClaireChilton said:


> I'll let you know the results when I've got it all setup. I think that if the website is successful and bringing in a lot of visitors who like to buy, then you'll still generate the Amazon revenue at the same time. All the readers with Kindles will probably click on the Amazon link, bringing in ranking there, which will generate the Amazon traffic. Also, you'll get a nice Associates payout too if you're in that program. If say, I drive in 1000 customers and 30% buy, it's likely that 60% of them will be Kindle readers who will choose the Kindle button, so the math would look like this:
> 
> 1000 visitors
> 300 customers
> ...


Yes, absolutely. I do agree having your own website is important for many reason, as you've pointed out. Readers like to connect with the writer, and in this age of social media, I think it is a necessity. Without that connection, they will quickly forget us and move on to the next. Giving readers a choice to buy from you or Amazon is great. I apologize, I misunderstood your original post. I thought you were suggesting going the route of your own website and forgoing Amazon, altogether. That, I would never do. Working your website together with Amazon, absolutely.

Again, I look forward to hearing your results. It should be an interesting study.


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## vlmain (Aug 10, 2011)

KJCOLT said:


> Not to mention that Amazon has a reputation with customers, and a brand. If your books have a ranking on Amazon, it's something seemingly objective to the buyers. If you just list books on your site, there's no way to know the quality or whether you'll enjoy them without other books to compare them to.


It does lend a certain amount of credibility to the author and the social proof readers are looking for. Being a trusted site where buyers know they can get a refund if they want makes it that much easier for them to feel comfortable about making that purchase.


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## WordNinja (Jun 26, 2014)

starkllr said:


> I need something good to happen with these books.


I think it just did: 
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > New Adult & College
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics


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## DLSPublishing (Jul 31, 2014)

starkllr said:


> I chose the keywords to try and get into as many (reasonable) categories as possible. These are the keywords for the first book:
> Coming of age, Dreams, Psychic, Romance, amateur, College, New Adult


These are really lack-luster keywords. What might help is going to Amazon and seeing what their autofill gives you for each one and choosing the ones that go best... Are they contemporary romance? Historical? You can have multiple words as keywords. Take advantage of that. One keyword for the Scofflaw prologue is: supernatural gods epic novel

The other six are at least that long. Use that to your advantage!


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

Yay permafree!  This has been the most successful tool in my toolbox.  I would just add, though, that it didn't really take off until I ponied up and got a BookBub ad.  Permafree did better, mind you, than what I was doing before, but the massive increase in sell-thrus didn't occur until I was giving away at least 10,000+ copies a month.


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

Andrea @ ArtWellPub said:


> I think it just did:
> Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
> #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > New Adult & College
> #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics


It did. And thanks to all who urged me to do permafree. Which, clearly, I should have done several months ago.


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## Philip Gibson (Nov 18, 2013)

ClaireChilton said:


> My site sells epubs only, but I'm unsure on if it will continue to.


Since you sell epub versions of your books, why not also offer Mobi and PDF downloads?

As I understand it:

epub downloads are for tablets like the iPad
Mobi downloads are for Kindle readers
PDF downloads are for PCs/laptops.

Is that right?

Philip


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

Philip Gibson said:


> Since you sell epub versions of your books, why not also offer Mobi and PDF downloads also?
> 
> As I understand it:
> 
> ...


I figure mobi would be competing with Amazon, which I don't really want to do. On PDFs, is there much call for them now? People can read an epub on their phone for free with Aldiko and on their PC with Adobe Digital Editions or something similar. I think Firefox even has a good built-in epub reader now. I can't see the point in PDFs. Is there a reason to use them? The only one I can think of is so people can print the book, but that's whole copyright nightmare all by itself isn't it?


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## bluwulf (Feb 1, 2014)

I just took a look and Holy Crap!!  

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)  
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > New Adult & College 
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics 

You're almost in the top 100!


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## WordNinja (Jun 26, 2014)

#96, as of 1:02 p.m. ET.


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

As I said above: I'm now wondering why on Earth I didn't do permafree sooner.


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

This is definitely a lesson.  When hundreds of smart people, who are succeeding at the very thing that you are having endless trouble with, all suggest the same strategy as one of the big keys to their success, LISTEN TO THEM!!!


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## anniejocoby (Aug 11, 2013)

starkllr said:


> This is definitely a lesson. When hundreds of smart people, who are succeeding at the very thing that you are having endless trouble with, all suggest the same strategy as one of the big keys to their success, LISTEN TO THEM!!!


Yay you!!!!!!! Go, go, go, go, go, go!!!!! I'm so happy for you!!!!!

Now, here is what you do next. Because your downloads are going to start off good, and then they might or might not drop off a cliff. Mine did after about a week, and, well, I panicked. I started off giving away 1000 a day. One week later, crash! Twenty a day. Ugh. Talk about "OMG, now what do I do?"

DO NOT PANIC! Get an ad to boost visibility if that happens (hopefully it won't!). Freebooksy is a great place to start. I also had enormous success with My Romance Reads. I think that you are paranormal? I heard great things about My Vampire Reads (I think that's the title). I'm going to give BookSends a try - I haven't really tried them out, but I have heard amazing things about them. Also heard great things about Kindle Books and Tips, although they generally won't accept my books because they're too family-unfriendly, LOL, but they might accept yours. Hear great things about ENT, but they've never accepted me. There are others, but those are just the ones that I use, or I have heard of, on the top of my head.

My suggestion would be to do at least one ad a month until things get going. BookBub is king, of course, but they accept like 10% of the applicants and have consistently turned me down (except for Beautiful Illusions - they like that one, for some odd reason).

Man, you are on your way! Love to see it!


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## Jennifer R P (Oct 19, 2012)

Jim...why are you whining when your sales are ten times what mine are?

That said...I do have a suggestion for you. Join the LoveRomancesCafe Yahoo group - it's active and you're allowed to post blurbs and the like there. I was hauled into it by my publisher, but obviously there isn't that much crossover between the romance people and the sci fi crowd...there's some, or Asaro wouldn't have the success she does...but I've found it less than useful.

For YOU, though.

I wouldn't change the titles. I think you've sold JUST enough that that would just confuse your existing reader base. We should get together and talk marketing at some point. (Sorry to cut in here. Yeah, we're friends).


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

anniejocoby said:


> Yay you!!!!!!! Go, go, go, go, go, go!!!!! I'm so happy for you!!!!!
> 
> Now, here is what you do next. Because your downloads are going to start off good, and then they might or might not drop off a cliff. Mine did after about a week, and, well, I panicked. I started off giving away 1000 a day. One week later, crash! Twenty a day. Ugh. Talk about "OMG, now what do I do?"
> 
> ...


Thanks, Annie! I was thinking along those lines already - I've got a Freebooksy lined up for next Friday, and I've put in for Bookbub (but like you say, the odds are not super-favorable on that). ENT's also on the agenda. I've had relatively good luck with BookSends at $0.99, so I'll probably go back to them as well. And maybe Kindle Books and tips (although I had basically no luck with them at $0.99).

Thanks so much for your support - it means a lot. It's really easy for me to go to that "OMG!!! The sky is falling!!!" place, which is where the initial post came from (I think by now I've got dual-citizenship in that place!), and having fellow authors talk me off the ledge, give practical advice and root for me is such a big deal. I'm very, very grateful.


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

starkllr said:


> It did. And thanks to all who urged me to do permafree. Which, clearly, I should have done several months ago.


Wow, that happened fast, didn't it? Dang, wish I had a long string of books so I could afford to offer a permafree one. I do have short stories, but have been told that won't work as well, if at all.

bobbi c.


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## anniejocoby (Aug 11, 2013)

starkllr said:


> Thanks, Annie! I was thinking along those lines already - I've got a Freebooksy lined up for next Friday, and I've put in for Bookbub (but like you say, the odds are not super-favorable on that). ENT's also on the agenda. I've had relatively good luck with BookSends at $0.99, so I'll probably go back to them as well. And maybe Kindle Books and tips (although I had basically no luck with them at $0.99).
> 
> Thanks so much for your support - it means a lot. It's really easy for me to go to that "OMG!!! The sky is falling!!!" place, which is where the initial post came from (I think by now I've got dual-citizenship in that place!), and having fellow authors talk me off the ledge, give practical advice and root for me is such a big deal. I'm very, very grateful.


Good luck! Be sure and post updates. We are all rooting for you!


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

Maybe I'm still reeling from Robin Williams' death, but this thread has brought tears to my eyes and I am NOT a crier.  So pleased for you, OP.  Hope your sales skyrocket!


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## bluwulf (Feb 1, 2014)

It's not easy to let go of your own ideas of how things should "be" but I am glad you listened! 

I am really happy for you! I didn't expect such a quick turnaround but this book just keeps going up!

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #*80* Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store) 
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Cozy 
#1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics

I hope you have for your books for sale on other vendors and set the first one free again!


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## starkllr (Mar 21, 2013)

bluwulf said:


> It's not easy to let go of your own ideas of how things should "be" but I am glad you listened!
> 
> I am really happy for you! I didn't expect such a quick turnaround but this book just keeps going up!
> 
> ...


I've got the first book free everywhere except Barnes & Noble (and hopefully they'll get around to it soon. I distributed through Smashwords, made it free there, and they had it free on apple and Kobo within hours. I guess BN just lags behind?).

Thanks for mentioning that, though, because I'd forgotten about Google Play - I just went in and made it free there, too.


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## CaraS. (Jul 18, 2014)

ClaireChilton said:


> I'll let you know the results when I've got it all setup. I think that if the website is successful and bringing in a lot of visitors who like to buy, then you'll still generate the Amazon revenue at the same time. All the readers with Kindles will probably click on the Amazon link, bringing in ranking there, which will generate the Amazon traffic. Also, you'll get a nice Associates payout too if you're in that program. If say, I drive in 1000 customers and 30% buy, it's likely that 60% of them will be Kindle readers who will choose the Kindle button, so the math would look like this:
> 
> 1000 visitors
> 300 customers
> ...


Just wanted to say you have an impressive website, very well done, creative. Did you design it yourself? Or hire someone?

Totally agree with your quoted post above. I am relatively new to the market, starting with Amazon for Kindle. May expand to an author website with my work for sale at some point, and while I do have a blog, it has been online a long time. You are really prolific!

I went through a long dry spell/block in fiction writing; most my novels for sale now were written back in the 80s/90s, but I _am_ writing again. Hooray! This board is a fount of knowledge, have learned more here in the past weeks than anywhere else. Thanks to you and all who post here.


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## lenagoldfinch (Feb 28, 2012)

That's great news! I grabbed a copy myself. Looks interesting.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

Lookin' good!

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

    #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics


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## Livia (Feb 6, 2014)

Woo-hoo!!!!  So happy to see this JJ! Congrats!


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## juliatheswede (Mar 26, 2014)

Congratulations, JJ! It's great to see that hard work finally pays off!


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## Nick Bryan (Jul 3, 2014)

Wow, this is like a modern day fairy tale. Nicely done, starkllr.


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## bberntson (Oct 24, 2013)

Hey, for what it's worth, I know how you feel.  I haven't nearly gone through the challenges and the dedication you've faced, but I thought for sure I would see better results than what I have by now, especially after the time I put in.  My lease was just terminated from my old apartment and I was forced to move because they were renovating the kitchens.  I was there for seven years, and the only apartment I could find was a hundred dollars more a month.  All the extra money I made editing a friend's work went to a new apartment instead of investing my books.  Then, I was just told I lost my benefits at work and that my hours were being cut to 29.  Sometimes, it truly feels like the world is against you.  And I know it's small consolation when people say you're not alone, but your post actually made me feel that way, made me realize there are people in the same boat, even worse, but they're still chugging along.  I have no advice for you other than to reach out through the cyber world and offer some empathy.  Your determination is admirable and noble.  And it's all part of the process.  The lows suck, I know, but the game is far from over.


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

I've got nothing to add that hasn't already been said, but I wanted to come in and wish you good luck.


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## wtvr (Jun 18, 2014)

What they said ^^!! Way to go!


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## Mike Dennis (Apr 26, 2010)

Fishbowl Helmet said:


> And this is the part where you try to sell me your guaranteed method to success, right? Otherwise, yeah. It's a gamble. Why is it a gamble? Because there's no guarantee. Funny that.


First of all, I have nothing to sell.

You're assuming the definition of "no guarantee" is "gamble". There are no guarantees in a lot of areas which are not gambling. You want to run for elected office. You run a bad campaign. Your opponent runs a good one. More people vote for him. He wins. You lose. Not gambling. The result is a direct function of the effort that went into the campaign, but there was still no guarantee that you would lose.

However, your bad campaign might have struck a chord with certain activist voters who did a lot of grass roots work for you, turning out a larger-than-expected vote, causing you to win. Again, not gambling. The result is a direct function of the right message to the right people.



Fishbowl Helmet said:


> The innumerable things you have utterly no control over just happening to go your way that generates that success... that's your random cards and dice rolls. That they go your way is good luck; that they go against you is bad luck. Because you have literally zero control over it.


What generates your success in indie writing is far more frequently innumerable things over which you have _total_ control, starting with writing a killer book. No random cards coming off the deck there. Only well-constructed sentences strung together in a coherent fashion to tell a compelling story that will resonate with large numbers of people. This is not black magic.



Fishbowl Helmet said:


> So "be the next Hugh Howey" is an appropriate business plan now? d*mn, if only I'd have known it was that easy.


I don't know how you connected Hugh Howey to the quote you showed, but he has never pleaded luck as his principal source of success. Plus, he writes killer books that resonate with large numbers of people. And I can promise you his sales are the result of heavy promotion, whether it was done by himself, Amazon, or word-of-mouth among his readers. Most likely, a combination of all three. But there was no mysterious bolt from the blue.



Fishbowl Helmet said:


> No, but luck is what makes that one reader happen to really love your book to happen to have ten minutes right now to write a review or happen to be emailing a friend who's also an avid reader. Notice how it's basically impossible for even the biggest publishers in the world to guarantee a successful book? That's luck. Pure and simple.


You keep citing examples of the marketplace at work (again, starting with a killer book) as "luck". Luck has no role whatever in word-of-mouth promotion or in reader reviews. These sales-building events are, again, not black magic, but the direct result of a great book that has resonated with readers. What makes one reader happen to really love your book is the fact that you have written a great book.



Fishbowl Helmet said:


> So if there's no guarantee... that means there's a chance of failure despite whatever work is put in. That's the definition of luck.


No guarantees? Chance of failure? That's not the definition of luck. That's the real world. You either believe "Life is what I do" or "Life is what happens to me."



Fishbowl Helmet said:


> Here's the quick reality of the situation. The vast majority of books don't sell. The best writing, the best covers, the best edits, the best marketing can't guarantee a successful book. If you think it does, go try to sell that to the big publishers. They'll laugh you out of their offices.


You're absolutely right. But luck has nothing to do with it. It's the way the world works.



Fishbowl Helmet said:


> You say the OP can work his ass off and it's not a gamble, which means no chance, no luck, no risk, which means that there's a guarantee that his work will pay off. Well, what happens when it doesn't? He'll think he did something wrong and could have worked harder, could have done something different. Endlessly working and tweaking to get them right. That way lies madness. I say the OP can work his ass off and that it _is_ a gamble, that there's no guarantee that his work will pay off. Well, what happens when it doesn't? He'll know that he did the best he could and be able to move on to the next project.


I go back to the analogy of the restaurant owner. He does his best, serves good food at a good price and with good service, but still goes out of business after a year or two. Believe me, something drove those potential customers away. A few cockroaches, a couple of snotty servers, a better restaurant opening up right down the street &#8230; there are many possibilities, but it's quite likely he will never know the real reason. Had those reasons not existed, or had they been addressed while he was opened, he quite likely would have succeeded. But, yes, , like the OP, he has to get up and try again.


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## CfaE (Jul 25, 2014)

CaraS. said:


> Just wanted to say you have an impressive website, very well done, creative. Did you design it yourself? Or hire someone?
> 
> Totally agree with your quoted post above. I am relatively new to the market, starting with Amazon for Kindle. May expand to an author website with my work for sale at some point, and while I do have a blog, it has been online a long time. You are really prolific!
> 
> I went through a long dry spell/block in fiction writing; most my novels for sale now were written back in the 80s/90s, but I _am_ writing again. Hooray! This board is a fount of knowledge, have learned more here in the past weeks than anywhere else. Thanks to you and all who post here.


Thanks Cara. I did it all myself. I don't earn much as a writer, so I do all the work myself. I'm kind of lucky in that I am a web designer/graphic designer as part of my job, so I had a lot of the skills I needed from the day job.

I think focusing on building your own space to gather readers on it is beneficial wherever you sell your books from. Plus, it serves you better in the long run to promote your own space on the net.

I found these boards are amazingly helpful. It's a great place to find the answers. I wish I'd found it sooner. It might not have taken me four years to learn everything lol.

I write about a book a month at the moment with usually a two week break between them where I fix up the website or do some marketing. It's been a long process getting everything working, about four years of unpaid work so far, but I hope that one day it's worth it.

P.S. Congrats to starkllr! It's amazing what's happened to your books. I'm so happy for you!


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

Congrats, JJ!

You still might want to get into Fantasy -> Paranormal & Urban Fantasy for one of your categories, with keywords psychic, romance, and mystery. That'll help zero you in for readers who are looking for exactly this kind of book.

So glad the perma-free is working well; hope it translates into lots of sales for the other books!


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## bobbic (Apr 4, 2011)

Nick Bryan said:


> Wow, this is like a modern day fairy tale. Nicely done, starkllr.


Good job! It's good to see that little changes can pay off in a big way!


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