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I finally got back creative control of the first books I ever wrote and have started putting them up on Amazon via Createspace. I know that's not really the best way to go because of the necessity of higher pricing, but I was sick of people not being able to find or buy a copy at all: http://www.amazon.com/Long-Andromeda-Arcadian-Cycle-Volume/dp/1494212080 Volume 2 (which is longer) should be ready soon. Then maybe I can finally move on to finishing the nonfiction book I'm under contract to finish...
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May 9, 2014 22:50
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Epic Doctor Fetus posted:It -is- a nonfiction story about a get rich quick scheme. Are you saying that it comes across as a scammy "how to" manual? That's part of the reason the tag line includes "And Quickly Lose A Small Fortune." I wanted to make sure that no one thought they were going to get rich if they bought this book. I'll brainstorm some ideas. It's just an idea, but people can be weird about giving non-fiction a chance, which could end up hurting your sales. Whereas the other good thing about fiction is that you can embellish and outright lie as long as you're not slandering (libelling? I forget which) anyone.
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May 10, 2014 02:31
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:Is there a really generic guideline for average sales:reviews ratio for genre fiction on Amazon? I acknowledge that it's going to vary by a huge number of factors, but would it be closer to ten sales for every review or five hundred sales for every review? It does vary a lot, but I'm afraid it's closer to the latter. People just don't seem to have the time/inclination to leave reviews. Which is why so many reviews are purchased on Fiverr.
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May 10, 2014 13:43
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Reviews also vary heavily by genre, remember. You're not going to get nearly as many reviews for that erotica short as you are for that mainstream billionaire romance. Even if they make similar sales. I do find running a KDP Select free promotion usually gets a few reviews, though.
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May 10, 2014 14:26
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Faded Mars posted:I do find running a KDP Select free promotion usually gets a few reviews, though. It does, but it comes with the caveat that there are tons of people out there who will download it even though they hate the genre (because it's free!) and who will leave reviews about how much the book sucks.
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May 11, 2014 00:39
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It would be harder to gauge sales using reviews. A book that is out longer, with a very active author, might accumulate more reviews than you'd think. The quick method I use to gauge current sales is to divide ranking by 100,000. If someone had a ranking of 30,000, then they will have about 3 sales a day. It's not exact, and it breaks down when sales rank is lower than 5k.
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May 11, 2014 13:51
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Or you can use this calculator: http://kdpcalculator.com/
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May 11, 2014 14:07
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Faded Mars posted:Or you can use this calculator: http://kdpcalculator.com/ lol the first range on there is like 10k to 100k and then below 10k its hilariously inaccurate.
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May 11, 2014 21:00
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I'm new to this. I have a novel in the can that I can't get looked at by an agent, so I dusted off an old story that won me a nice certificate and published on Amazon as sort of a test balloon. My idea is, and it may not be a good one, to publish a couple of the stories I cut from the book leading up to the release of the novel. I'm working with a graphic designer on the cover for all that. This cover I didn't really spend a lot of time on and it shows, but I'm not especially looking for feedback on that. I couldn't figure out how to make the sucker free, which was my intention. Amazon said I had to charge at least a buck, so a buck it is. However I bought a copy (lol) and can loan that out if I want. I also have no idea how to do this, but I've found sometimes jumping in is the best way. Linko
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May 16, 2014 15:35
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Why is your title on the store page all lower case?
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May 16, 2014 19:26
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Offer the book for free through iTunes or Google Books and Amazon will eventually price-match it.
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May 16, 2014 21:09
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Six pages may be a new record for the lowest page count I've seen in an Amazon book. Is it like 1,750 words or something?
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May 17, 2014 22:00
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Lower case: Something in my Soul Quivers when I See Titles like This. iTunes + Google books: Thanks! I'll have you know it's about 2200 words. I categorized it as a short story, because it always was a short story. That's how I intended it to publish but it ended up this way.
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May 18, 2014 00:51
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Primitive Screwhead posted:Lower case: Something in my Soul Quivers when I See Titles like This. That's because it's the title of a book, not a sentence. Hamlet isn't called hamlet.
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May 18, 2014 04:10
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couldn't it
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May 18, 2014 16:17
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Look man, are you looking to self publish your novel or is this going to be your one-and-only self published work? People are trying to help you and it looks like you couldn't be loving bothered. Here's a hint for you, if Hamlet were hamlet instead, it still wouldn't be a six page story on amazon with a terrible cover, a lovely blurb, and a no-name author. If Shakespeare titled it hamlet, there would probably be a reason for it, or at least one made up by scholars centuries later. When you do it, it looks like you're lazy and probably put the same effort into your six page story.
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May 18, 2014 17:28
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I could totally see Shakespeare titling it "hamlet." He was probably depressed at the time, so just picture him saying it like a mopey Ross from Friends. That just sounds lower-case.
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May 18, 2014 18:44
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On another topic... does anyone else think it's about time for a new thread? A ton has changed in since 2011, a good half the books in the OP aren't available anymore, and with the death of the BFC thread, we have a lot more market-oriented writers in this thread than we used to. Anyone else up for a new OP focusing on the how / why / where aspects of self-pub in 2014?
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May 18, 2014 19:16
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Primitive Screwhead posted:I'm new to this. I have a novel in the can that I can't get looked at by an agent, so I dusted off an old story that won me a nice certificate and published on Amazon as sort of a test balloon. My idea is, and it may not be a good one, to publish a couple of the stories I cut from the book leading up to the release of the novel. I'm working with a graphic designer on the cover for all that. This cover I didn't really spend a lot of time on and it shows, but I'm not especially looking for feedback on that. I'd work on your blurb. It's too vague to inspire curiosity. I guess once it becomes free it won't matter as much, but as it stands its a hard sell even at 99 cents.
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May 18, 2014 19:19
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Sundae posted:On another topic... does anyone else think it's about time for a new thread? As someone who has just started looking into this and reading this thread: Very much yes.
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May 18, 2014 19:40
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Sundae posted:On another topic... does anyone else think it's about time for a new thread? Agreeing with this.
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May 18, 2014 19:55
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Sounds like a great idea, Sundae.
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May 18, 2014 20:35
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FingerbangMisfire posted:Agreeing with this. Okay, I'll start writing one up on the side. I have a book I need to finish in the next 10 days or so, but I should have the thread good to go shortly after that.  If there's anything in particular from this thread that you'd like linked in the new OP, go ahead and toss a link my way so that I can add it.
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May 18, 2014 20:51
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Sundae posted:Okay, I'll start writing one up on the side. I have a book I need to finish in the next 10 days or so, but I should have the thread good to go shortly after that. I, and I think everyone else, appreciates it, man. This thread is just too bloated.
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May 18, 2014 23:41
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Primitive Screwhead posted:Lower case: Something in my Soul Quivers when I See Titles like This. Sundae, I'm gonna write up a nice BFC paragraph or two for how to deal with all the money we make writing if you want to include something like that as well.
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May 19, 2014 00:01
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moana posted:Sundae, I'm gonna write up a nice BFC paragraph or two for how to deal with all the money we make writing if you want to include something like that as well. You mean I'm supposed to be doing something other than putting it in a pile and rolling around in it?
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May 19, 2014 01:32
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EngineerSean posted:You mean I'm supposed to be doing something other than putting it in a pile and rolling around in it? Just cut myself on one of the new bills.  Edit: Added yosbutt FingerbangMisfire fucked around with this message at 04:09 on May 19, 2014 |
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May 19, 2014 03:18
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I would love if the new OP talked about marketing strategies. My friend and I are going to finish up a few of our books before we change focus to marketing, but I'd love tips from those of you who have done it in the past. Thanks Sundae, Moana, Fingerbang, and everyone else who contributes to it.
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May 19, 2014 03:34
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The ins and outs of marketing a book can't really be done justice with a single post, and not only that, most of the self publishing successes in this thread write in romance, which has a separate promotional apparatus. Alternatively: bookbub
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May 19, 2014 03:51
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Marketing strategy A Get a person to read your book. Marketing strategy B Make sure you write a fkin entertaining book. repeat A x 200 every month and B x 1 every two months, congrats, ur a midlister EngineerSean posted:Alternatively: bookbub
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May 19, 2014 04:09
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EngineerSean posted:You mean I'm supposed to be doing something other than putting it in a pile and rolling around in it? edit: You can write some things off as research for a tax deduction. I'm not saying what things, but you can.
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May 19, 2014 04:14
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The problem is you guys do the marketing every day, so yeah it seems obvious to you. Then whenever the subject comes up in the thread there are a lot of vague allusions to bookbub, goodreads, and emailing book blogs, but no specifics. I basically have no idea, and while i can appreciate moana's bafflement at us being unable to get people to read it, it doesn't come naturally to everyone. The point of the op is to help people, right? Well, marketing is something I need help with, and it sounds like I'm not alone. A second post reserved for marketing links and basics would be incredibly helpful.
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May 19, 2014 09:07
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magnificent7 posted:I was going to ask, do you guy ever work with an editor or do you just freeball it? I have a wife who teaches 5th grade, and an elderly father-in-law with a couple of PhDs (medical) who has published a lot of his own stuff, and who has taught/mentored a lot of graduate students. She made me get a print copy of the rough draft, and then proceeded to mark it up to hell and back, and made me expand quite a few areas. He gave me about a half a dozen pages of tightly-written notes, and extensively tested everything I gave instructions for. I don't need an editor after running it past them, I need a drink or three. But it's non-fiction, technical, yet aimed at non-technical types, so they were basically the perfect editors in a way. I'm polishing it up, and getting ready for the next in the series, which will hopefully have a lot less red ink from her, and fewer notes from him. If you know a good elementary school teacher, say one of the grades 4-6, or a Jr. High teacher, they can be brutal, but it's worth it (free). She caught a lot of really simple mistakes I made, and made me expand the instructions/examples quite a bit. Which is good, because not only am I covering a technical subject for a non-technical audience and need to be clear as hell, but it should help with the non-native English speakers as well.
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May 19, 2014 09:07
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moana posted:You're supposed to be putting it into four buckets. The buckets are labelled "emergency fund", "401k up to match," "Roth," and I'm not sure about the last one, either "HSA" or "prostitutes and blow" I put a bunch of money away for retirement but at this rate I'll either be a billionaire or dead before I can retire, kinda seems like a waste. I'm only half kidding about that, I am less than half the age for retirement and putting away the US median salary in an account I can't touch, I'm pretty sure that makes no sense even if it is the "smart" thing to do. also my hooker and blow bucket is always empty 
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May 19, 2014 09:27
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Bobby Deluxe posted:The problem is you guys do the marketing every day, so yeah it seems obvious to you. Then whenever the subject comes up in the thread there are a lot of vague allusions to bookbub, goodreads, and emailing book blogs, but no specifics. I can see both sides. Marketing can be an absolute nightmare and can't be summed up easily. The non-fiction book I'm finishing up right now, it's a field I've worked on and off in for the last 10 years or so, and I've got a decent reputation in it, and right now I'm sitting on a list of about 35 bloggers/websites/industry PR types (whose products are mentioned) that I will be hitting up with review copies. That and a website that I've run for over 11 years. That's my marketing. Hopefully it'll be great marketing since it'll be some top sites in the field. If somebody came to me wanting to write about a similar topic, but they had not made themselves known in the industry at all, I have no loving clue other than things like AdSense and hoping there are enough people searching for such a book on Amazon and willing to review it. I could tell them to send copies to certain people, but it would be a complete crapshoot because a lot of the folks I know get half a dozen products/book/websites to review every few weeks, and some of them might not even take a look at those unless there is some advertising/sponsorship money kicked their way, or they think it will sell like gangbusters and want the traffic/affiliate sales. I do have a marketing nightmare: I've got a book on hold, that was started two years ago, and was basically going to be a guide/tribute/retrospective for a niche videogame, with official support (yet not official). I got support from the developers working on the game (who want their game promoted more), but legal was pretty slow on clearing a lot of things, although eventually they got better when the devs, and the PR people nudged them. The kicker is that they wouldn't be able to advertise the book on the official website because the book wasn't being published through the company they license for everything else. The developers could tweet about it through their own personal twitter accounts, but that was about it. Me and the three others that were assisting me decided to stop working on it, because we weren't going to put in countless hours of gameplay and editing, only to be ignored by the official website. It's a pretty divided gaming community to boot, and there was a good chance some of the big sites wouldn't help us because they were upset that we got the permission (we were the only ones that pitched such a project). One site got a sneak peak at an outline we had passed to a developer in confidence, and they threw together an addition to their website that covered some of it. Thankfully it was a very sparse outline, but that really pissed us off. Actually, that may not be a marketing nightmare, so much as a "gently caress this company and the sites that kiss their rear end" kind of problem. And no, we were not willing to go through their officially licensed publisher for a couple of reasons, the main one being that we would not get nearly as much money. Not even close. The other being that there was no guarantee that we wouldn't somehow get hosed by them bringing in staff writers, and squeezing us out or changing the direction, or at least diluting our work so they could pay us less. Wait, no it's a marketing nightmare, because we could very well be deliberately shut out of 75% of our target audience and just hope they hit up Amazon/iBooks/etc. looking for a book about the game. tonelok fucked around with this message at 09:42 on May 19, 2014 |
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May 19, 2014 09:35
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tonelok posted:That and a website that I've run for over 11 years. Honestly this is some of the best marketing that you can ever do. If you're wanting your book to sell, you immerse yourself in the community, you post news about the field, you build up some e-cred, and you plug your book while you're at it. There are people who have done this organically in our community (romance) that are just killing it. H. M. Ward and Celia Kyle are two that are just making money hand over fist due to their author platforms. I imagine it's the same with a bunch of other communities, though the demand for books is greater in romance than, say, Minecraft fanfiction or whatever.
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May 19, 2014 10:08
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I miss the erotica thread. I wrote 6 stories in 2013 that still bring in about 150$ a month. 2000 total sales. Too bad I'm too lazy to keep doing it.
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May 19, 2014 12:51
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ravenkult posted:I miss the erotica thread. I wrote 6 stories in 2013 that still bring in about 150$ a month. 2000 total sales. Didn't self-published erotica get blasted recently or something by most of the markets?
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May 19, 2014 13:55
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PoshAlligator posted:Didn't self-published erotica get blasted recently or something by most of the markets? This happens roughly once a year. Some newspaper/site runs an outrage piece (ARE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN GETTING EXPOSED TO THE WORD 'SEX' ON AMAZON? THE TRUTH MAY SURPRISE YOU), everyone else picks it up because  , and then the distributors feel like they have to cover their asses.So, we get a brief purge (frustrating and monetarily impactful, yes) until the fervor dies down, and then we all put our stuff right back up again. It's just the cycle of things.
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May 19, 2014 13:59
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My marketing strategy is to not worry about marketing until you have several titles out. The benefits of an attracted reader are a factor of how many books you have to sell them. If they like Book A but that's all you have, they'll gently gently caress off into that good night, because hey, one-hit wonders are common and who has the attention span to check back with you in a year? But if you've got six other titles, they'll check them out, and now you've got a fan, and that's what you're trying to do: Entice them into trying your product, addict them with the first book they read, and have more to offer them. The one form of marketing I would advocate early is a mailing list. And update it regularly, not just every couple months when you have a release, otherwise your readers will be all "what the gently caress is this and why did I sign up for it?" Go monthly/bimonthly.
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May 19, 2014 14:54
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