It's been 14 months since I've published

Arpeggio · Apr 6, 2015

SunshineonMe said:
I also get advertising when I do my countdown deals. There are a few places to go- search for "bargain ebooks" and tons will pop up. I tend to go with the cheapest ones, splurging only on Book Bub.

I agree, there's more than you can shake a stick at. May I ask, when you say advertising, do you basically mean places like BookBub and smaller equivalents where they promote your discounted eBook to their mailing list?

Sounds like it's going well for you. How much would you say your success is down to this approach? I've yet to try it.

SunshineonMe · Apr 6, 2015

I've only done Book Bub twice, one for each book. I also go with ENT, KB&T and a few others.

Normally, when I do a countdown I spend about $40-50 on advertising. I always make it back, and more. If you use Amazon's free days there are a lot of sites to advertise at that don't cost money, like they do when you reduce your books price.

Does that help? Have you published yet?

Success, well that's hard to determine. In my opinion, I've had great success, and I'm incredibly thankful. For someone else, my success might be tiny. You know what I mean?

By the way Book 3, Fear No More, is free for a while!

Arpeggio · Apr 7, 2015

Thanks for the info. I’ve been published for a few years. I guess it’s hard to say how much your success is down to these eBook promotion sites given how many factors can be involved. Either way it looks that you've had success with them

It seems to an extent they act as a curator for their readers, which is great, I can’t imagine they would succeed otherwise. Going through filters like this is always in the interests of good authors and the readers attracted to those filters.

WriterBN · Apr 7, 2015

Arpeggio said:
Thanks for the info. I’ve been published for a few years. I guess it’s hard to say how much your success is down to these eBook promotion sites given how many factors can be involved. Either way it looks that you've had success with them

It seems to an extent they act as a curator for their readers, which is great, I can’t imagine they would succeed otherwise. Going through filters like this is always in the interests of good authors and the readers attracted to those filters.

If you're on Goodreads, there's a long and very detailed thread in the Goodreads Author Feedback Group where self-pub authors discuss their results with various advertising sites.

Results vary significantly depending on genre, but the bottom line is most authors are actually covering the cost of the ad or making money only on a handful of sites: BookBub, ENT, KBT, and a few others. The rest are not worthwhile, at least from an author perspective.

SunshineonMe · Apr 7, 2015

If there is some way I can help, Arpeggio, let me know. WriterBN has some good advice. I need to find that thread myself!

Arpeggio · Apr 8, 2015

I’m a little curious how good this method is for getting reviews? Is this method good for getting “verified purchase” reviews? i.e. when your book is discounted but not free, or if you make your book free you’re more likely to get reviews but they won’t be “verified purchase”.

If I gave away free review copies I would be able to get lots of genuine reviews on a long-term basis. However according to some customers, apparently if you have mostly non-VP reviews that is suspicious.

SunshineonMe · Apr 8, 2015

Arpeggio said:
I’m a little curious how good this method is for getting reviews? Is this method good for getting “verified purchase” reviews? i.e. when your book is discounted but not free, or if you make your book free you’re more likely to get reviews but they won’t be “verified purchase”.

If I gave away free review copies I would be able to get lots of genuine reviews on a long-term basis. However according to some customers, apparently if you have mostly non-VP reviews that is suspicious.

The thing about verified reviews is that there are less of them since KU has rolled out. I am pretty sure those reviews from borrowed books do not say "verified.

It isn't easy to get reviews. The best way I've found is to put the book for free and advertise.

There is a website, if you aren't in select, that you can upload your book. Readers borrow the book under the condition they leave an honest review. They are required to state they received the book in exchange for their review.
You can not use that service if you are in select though, because it violates Amazon's terms.

Hang in there, the reviews will come!

WriterBN · Apr 8, 2015

Reviews seem to be harder to come by these days, compared to a couple of years ago when I published my first book. I think the number of authors has grown exponentially, and most book bloggers are swamped with review requests and have a long backlist.

lookingforanswers · Apr 13, 2015

SunshineonMe said:
Wow- this has been a crazy adventure! I've been at AW for a year, or nearly so. My first days here were filled with stalking every forum and feeling incredibly overwhelmed. I never saw a way to even finish my book. Every step seemed intense and crucial.

Hi
It was such pleasure reading this post. It has encouraged me beyond what I can even say. At the moment I am sitting down trying to come up with a plan for the promotion of my new book. I must say it is very overwhelming and If I am honest I need help. The book talks about the illness and death of my beloved brother and how I coped with the pain. it also talks about getting pregnant whilst mourning and then having the baby born prematurely at 23 weeks.
I have been stood up by a small press who signed me then pass me on to a shady publisher. I managed to get out of it. I had also been in contact with another publisher whom had promise from the 27th of January that he would get back to me by that weekend with a decision but still nothing.
I have now made the decision to go with KDP.

I feel so overwhelm and I am not sure where to start from. I have bough a guide as to how to become a best seller on Amazon but its too much for me.
I would benefit from something really simple as how to kick start my campaign so my book will sell on amazon after all everyone who writes a book and puts it there wants it to sell.
Thank you.

SunshineonMe · Apr 13, 2015

I'm so glad you were able to get out of the shady publisher. WOW! I don't know a magic formula to make a book an instant best seller. If I did, I'd do it lol. I think it was important for me to figure out what my goal was, because honestly, no matter how successful you are, you are always going to want more. It's just natural to want to take the next step.

So don't get overwhelmed. You are going to be okay, and most important, this isn't a "one time chance" where if you make a mistake it's over. It really does work out.

I'm not sure where you are in the process. Has your book gone through beta readers and editing? Not everyone needs beta readers, but I found them super helpful. Are you planning to self-publish? Do you have a professional cover?

If those three things are a yes, then I would work on your blurb. You want to make it snappy without giving away spoilers. I hate blurb writing. Probably because I'm not super good at it, lol.

Then you need to decide if you want to go exclusively with Amazon to take advantage of their Select Program, or if you want to go "wide" and use other distributers.

Once you make that decision you need to decide if you want to do a paperback. I used Create Space. Don't get overwhelmed, just slowly tick this off your list. When you publish your 2nd this will seem much easier. It's just overwhelming because it's new.

Then you upload to however you want to do it, Amazon, or wide. I used Draft2Digital to go wide with my last book, and I am in select with my first 2. I wanted to be able to give my last book away for free, and this is the only way Amazon allows free, by price matching.

Make sure you preview your book before you publish it.

Other things before you publish... look for good key words (check out what genre you want your book to be in on Amazon. Play with key words in the search bar to see what books you can pull up. Amazon also has a place where it suggests key words to authors.)

Have a facebook landing page, and an email list in place before you publish so that you can put the links in the back of the book.

You can go to Goodreads and schedule a give-away to get more eyes on your book. I generally only give away 1-2 books and make my giveaway about a week long.

This is all just my opinion, and I hope it helps. There are all sorts of ways to publish books, and this is just one pathway. If there is anything else I can do, please let me know. Hang in there, and congratulations for finishing your book!

lookingforanswers · Apr 14, 2015

SunshineonMe said:
I'm so glad you were able to get out of the shady publisher. WOW! I don't know a magic formula to make a book an instant best seller. If I did, I'd do it lol. I think it was important for me to figure out what my goal was, because honestly, no matter how successful you are, you are always going to want more. It's just natural to want to take the next step.

So don't get overwhelmed. You are going to be okay, and most important, this isn't a "one time chance" where if you make a mistake it's over. It really does work out.

I'm not sure where you are in the process. Has your book gone through beta readers and editing? Not everyone needs beta readers, but I found them super helpful. Are you planning to self-publish? Do you have a professional cover?

If those three things are a yes, then I would work on your blurb. You want to make it snappy without giving away spoilers. I hate blurb writing. Probably because I'm not super good at it, lol.

Then you need to decide if you want to go exclusively with Amazon to take advantage of their Select Program, or if you want to go "wide" and use other distributers.!

Thank you.
You are such a star for taking the time out to answer me so thoroughly.Yes, I have got my book professionally edited already. I have not got the cover as yet but I know where to get it done. I just need to say the word and it will be done. I have not used beta readers I did know about such thing until I read your post which I replied to.
The only sort of feedback which I have received is from a traditional publisher whom I sent two chapters to- the first and the 5th I think. He then wrote back to say he was very impressed with what he saw and I should send my whole manuscript to him. I am still waiting, but I can't wait forever. I am glad I came across your post and as you suggest I will take things slowly so I don't get overwhelm. I will definitively be asking you more questions but mostly about promoting etc.
Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
Thank you.

SunshineonMe · Apr 15, 2015

No problem! I'll help however I can.

akaria · Apr 29, 2015

I'm seconding everything SunshineonMe said!

The first book you self-pub will be a series of trial and error. There's so much to do you feel like you're drowning! Take it one step at a time and it will all get done. One thing to remember is when you self-pub you are responsible for meeting your own deadlines. This is both blessing and curse. You have the flexibility to change release dates to suit your schedule. You also have the ability to sit around procrastinating until the world stops turning.

For designing promo pieces, I recommend Canva. It's a very user friendly graphic design site. They've got dozens of templates to choose from. You can use your own art or use theirs for a $1. There's a lot of free art available on the site too.

For promo, I suggest picking one or two social media formats and leaving it at that. It will take you a while to figure out which one works for you. Don't try to do Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Instagram, Google+, etc. at the same time. It will wear you out and it's impossible to keep up with. I like the fast pace and energy of Twitter so that's my main place. I also have a blog that I post to once a week or so. Lately, I've had guest posters which is fun and keeps the blog energy fresh. I'm also on Goodreads, but mostly as a reader. I've done an ebook giveaway in groups that I'm active in. It's useful to have a handful of print copies so you can also participate in the Goodreads Giveaway Program.

It's a big step to go it alone, but I'm loving it so far and you might find it really rewarding after coming from a bad publisher experience.

Good luck and keep us updated!

It's been 14 months since I've published

Arpeggio

SunshineonMe

practical experience, FTW

Arpeggio

WriterBN

SunshineonMe

practical experience, FTW

Arpeggio

SunshineonMe

practical experience, FTW

WriterBN

lookingforanswers

SunshineonMe

practical experience, FTW

lookingforanswers

SunshineonMe

practical experience, FTW

akaria