Michelle Fox's Blog, page 21
October 20, 2016
Spooktacular Giveaway Hop 2016 - Winner Announced!
Our winner is Suzi. Congratulation!
Welcome to
We're a group of authors and readers who love a good howl.
Check out one of our 99¢ box sets.Then scroll down to enter our giveaway.
9 paranormal romances will teach you how to love a dragon...without getting burned!
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA AmazonAUNook iBooks Kobo GooglePlay
Enter our giveaway: CLICK HERE
Spooktacular Giveaway Hop 2016
Welcome to
We're a group of authors and readers who love a good howl.
Check out one of our 99¢ box sets.Then scroll down to enter our giveaway.
9 paranormal romances will teach you how to love a dragon...without getting burned!
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA AmazonAUNook iBooks Kobo GooglePlay
Enter our giveaway: CLICK HERE
October 11, 2016
What I've Learned About Wattpad...
I've recently been uploading stories or parts of stories to Wattpad in an effort to build a presence in that market. Here are some things I've learned/noticed...
1. The interface is glitchy. I title each part of the story and it often reverts back to the default 'Untitled.' I've even had one story grab another story's cover and replace the existing one...meaning I had two books with the same cover! It's so weird when data goes sideways like that! Fortunately, once I re-uploaded the correct cover, it was fine. The reverting back to Untitled thing keeps happening though, no matter how often I fix it.
2.You can message your followers. Whether they read it is another story, but given how often my newsletter ends up in spam, I like the idea of being able to send updates to followers that they might actually see!
3. Complete stories do better than unfinished ones. I have waaaay more reads on my complete novel than any samples or novels that I haven't finished uploading. So make a splash by posting a full, complete work to start. (And be sure to mark it as complete in WP's interface!)
4. Wattpad readers don't appear to like short stories. Works with just 1 or 2 parts will not see a ton of reads. This is not a market for short story lengths.
5. The preferred cover style on Wattpad can be different than what we see on ebook retailers. Be sure you look at the top read books in your genre and take note of the general cover aesthetic. You may need WP specific covers to attract readers.
6. Ask for votes and comments at the end of each part. I also will include promo for my other WP titles. Keep it short, but don't waste the opportunity to connect either. Oh and don't forget to say thank you!
7.You can upload video and graphics. Each story has a header bar that will support multimedia.
8. WP integrates with your social media accounts making it easy to let people know you have a new work or new chapter up.
9. Know what people are reading in your genres. While there are all sorts of books on WP and all different styles of story telling can do well, I did notice a good amount of first person Twilight style stories in my genre (which I happen to enjoy so not doggin' it at all!). Your easiest 'in' is to write to the WP market. If you see a lot of books with a certain style, your best bet is to post something similar.
(Note: My sense is WP is in a state of transition as with the royalty sharing program (authors get paid!) they'll attract a whole new writer and reader base. So things may change markedly in the next 6 months in terms of reader tastes.)
10. Be active in the community. Add books to your reading list. Comment on stories--there are a lot of new writers just starting out who would love some positive feedback. Do your best to connect with others.
11. Get your book featured on Wattpad. This will grow your reader base on the platform and can help you qualify for their royalty sharing program (where you get paid!). Once your book is complete, hustle for some reads and then submit it for review.
1. The interface is glitchy. I title each part of the story and it often reverts back to the default 'Untitled.' I've even had one story grab another story's cover and replace the existing one...meaning I had two books with the same cover! It's so weird when data goes sideways like that! Fortunately, once I re-uploaded the correct cover, it was fine. The reverting back to Untitled thing keeps happening though, no matter how often I fix it.
2.You can message your followers. Whether they read it is another story, but given how often my newsletter ends up in spam, I like the idea of being able to send updates to followers that they might actually see!
3. Complete stories do better than unfinished ones. I have waaaay more reads on my complete novel than any samples or novels that I haven't finished uploading. So make a splash by posting a full, complete work to start. (And be sure to mark it as complete in WP's interface!)
4. Wattpad readers don't appear to like short stories. Works with just 1 or 2 parts will not see a ton of reads. This is not a market for short story lengths.
5. The preferred cover style on Wattpad can be different than what we see on ebook retailers. Be sure you look at the top read books in your genre and take note of the general cover aesthetic. You may need WP specific covers to attract readers.
6. Ask for votes and comments at the end of each part. I also will include promo for my other WP titles. Keep it short, but don't waste the opportunity to connect either. Oh and don't forget to say thank you!
7.You can upload video and graphics. Each story has a header bar that will support multimedia.
8. WP integrates with your social media accounts making it easy to let people know you have a new work or new chapter up.
9. Know what people are reading in your genres. While there are all sorts of books on WP and all different styles of story telling can do well, I did notice a good amount of first person Twilight style stories in my genre (which I happen to enjoy so not doggin' it at all!). Your easiest 'in' is to write to the WP market. If you see a lot of books with a certain style, your best bet is to post something similar.
(Note: My sense is WP is in a state of transition as with the royalty sharing program (authors get paid!) they'll attract a whole new writer and reader base. So things may change markedly in the next 6 months in terms of reader tastes.)
10. Be active in the community. Add books to your reading list. Comment on stories--there are a lot of new writers just starting out who would love some positive feedback. Do your best to connect with others.
11. Get your book featured on Wattpad. This will grow your reader base on the platform and can help you qualify for their royalty sharing program (where you get paid!). Once your book is complete, hustle for some reads and then submit it for review.
Wolf Pack 99 Cent Sale & Giveaway! Oct 12 - 14 2016
The Wolf Pack authors have cooked up a batch of 99¢ (or f*r*e*e) reads!
Scroll to the bottom of this page for a special giveaway!
Sale ends Friday!
REMEMBER: Check prices before you buy. They can change without notice.If you see a book that isn't 99¢ or fr*ee, please check back later as price changes may be delayed.
Once you've been bitten, there's no going back...
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo
She's been sold to a vampire to be used, so why won't he touch her?
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCA
We put the 'sin' in casino.
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCA
A sizzling anthology jam-packed with alpha males, paranormal hotties, vampires, werewolves, shifters, Greek Gods & More.
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo
An Irish castle, griffin-shifters, vampires, werewolves and ghosts that go hump in the night...
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks
An alpha needs a mate, but Declan's comes with a secret.
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo GooglePlay
He’ll go through Hell to love her.
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo
A crazy goddess is threatening to turn Wayrian's whole dragon shifter clan human if she doesn't mate with a human cowboy. But that's a deal breaker for her grandfather, who wants her to impress the new dragon prince...
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo
Vengeance and justice aren’t all that collide when a vigilante werewolf meets a beautiful detective.
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo
Raised to become the bride of a shifter, Avelyn is determined to regain her freedom, even when her destined husband is hot, hunky Alpha wolf Max Blackmane.
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCA
She was a girl without an identity. Until he gave her one...
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo
Trapped by a mutual enemy, they have no choice but to work together.
AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonAU AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo
Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance
to win 1 of FOUR $100 gift cards! CLICK HERE!
Join The Wolf Pack Facebook group!
It's the place to be for readers who like a good howl:
September 26, 2016
Wolf Pack Fr-eebie Fest! Sept 28 - 30 2016
The Wolf Pack authors have put together a BRAND NEW bunch of *NEW* FR-EE reads... just for you!
Don't forget to scroll down to enter the giveaway - 4 winners will each receive a $25 gift card!
Sale ends Friday!
REMEMBER: Check prices before you buy. They can change without notice.
If you see a book that isn't FR*EE, please check back later as price changes may be delayed.
Going from pack zero to hero isn't easy...even if it means finding your mate.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
A wild wolf, a sexy as sin shifter, and a bond they couldn't deny.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo
A cougar's claim will not be denied.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
A were-bear on a galactic search for a mate, and a human woman who holds the key to his survival.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Can they put their differences aside and stop fighting long enough to help those in the line of fire?AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Arrogant billionaire seduces virgin PA. Dragoness breathes fire, declines marriage, demands love.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
I'll either be Nash's secret weapon--or the downfall of his coven.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Stranded on an alien world, Wendy must save her crew with the help of the alien natives.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Be thrilled and chilled by these tales set in Salem—the ultimate city for witchy and shape-shifting fun.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
It's not professional to mate with your alien bounty.AmazonUS AmazonUK
She's a powerful witch used for her magic and he's the warrior that wants to capture her heart.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Can their combined magic, all the love that they have and a faith in all they hold dear be enough to defeat the evil that’s sworn to destroy them all?AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
An expected hero comes home.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Her arrow pierced his centaur heart, but captured his human one.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Are you ready to have your toes curled? One curvy, sexy woman plus two handsome Alpha wolf shifters = scorching, hot menage romance!AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Second chances don’t come often and Rhea is determined to embrace her freedom.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
She's on the run and he was sent to kill her, but fate has a different plan in store for time.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
A grown up Red meets her big bad wolf.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
A dragon's love is eternal.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCANook iBooks Kobo GooglePlay
Running from the mob, Mia meets, Dominic, a sexy werewolf. Having a human mate is forbidden, yet she will be his.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Spies, Lies and Lust Meet the angel blooded assassin HolidayAmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
A she-dragon about to lose it all, and a hunky hero who refuses to let her.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
A single touch by a powerful elven king could reveal a secret Princess Miriel and her family have desperately kept for over a century.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
A forbidden romance between a gargoyle shifter and tree witch on a mystical island.AmazonUS AmazonUK AmazonCA
Don't forget to enter the giveaway: CLICK HERE
It's the place to be for readers who like a good howl!September 19, 2016
Just Playing Around
I found this free video tool and spent a few minutes making this. Interesting. It's not completely plug and play. You don't have a ton of ability to tailor pictures and how the program works, so you have to pick the exact right pictures. Still, it's fun, free and easy.
September 12, 2016
KU for Today, No Promises for Tomorrow
I want to throw up. I've just moved all three of my Huntsville Pack novels into Kindle Unlimited.
Amazon is winning the market with KU. How do I know?
Look at what other retailers are doing...
1. iBooks' last promotion invitation required books to have a minimum of a hundred reviews. Which I have, easy, just not on iBooks. I'm not alone in that either, and if you're new, how are you going to claw your way into a promotion?
Well, first you have to get on their email list, which good luck with that. I have funneled dozens upon dozens of authors into iBooks' system, but I've never seen another author do that. (And, no I'm not currently collecting emails.)
To get a foot—wait, make that a pinkie toe— in the door at iBooks, you must go to a conference and network or have an author friend who is willing to get you in. Oh and make sure your book breaks out on iBooks so it gets 100 reviews ASAP. (Tip: iBooks readers don't review as much as Amazon readers. So good luck with that.)
2. Want to be a bestseller in your genre? Target Kobo. As of last week, for around 50 sales you'll be a bestselling big deal in your book's genre. You might even be able to buy a pizza with your earnings. Or, at least a cup of coffee. (This means to hit their top 100 you need a couple hundred sales, but if rank in your genre peaks at 50 sales, where are those other couple hundred sales going to come from? The readers aren't there! Literally!)
3. Nook makes me want to ugly cry and have Victorian era hysterics. They're a great market for ebooks, but they are dying. Rapidly. 95% of my books have hit the top 100 on Nook dating back to 2012. A few years ago you needed 300-500 sales to hit the top 100. Now, it's around a 100-150. The sales volume isn't there anymore.
4. Googleplay...is a black hole. Your books go in and you hope money comes out. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. And then, they fark up your pricing (even though you marked it up per all the charts floating around in indieland), resulting in all sorts of alarming emails from Amazon.
There is no mid-list on these retailer sites. There is top and bottom and almost nothing in between. Outside of Bookbub, there is no mechanism of discoverability. KU, however, has discoverability tools, rank boosts for books in its program and there is a mid-list.
So go make money in KU then, right? Well, yes and no. Authors pay a price for KU. It's not an altruistic system to benefit the arts.
Think about this: Do you want to be a USA Today or NY Times bestselling author? If you do, guess what? Low sales volume or Nook just outright dying makes that almost impossible to achieve. To hit bestseller lists your book needs to be published wide and there needs to be some semblance of sales volume for it to count. USAT and NYT curate their lists. You have to have strong sales across the board so they don't pass you by for someone else who is selling better outside of Amazon than you are.
In the past, Nook was the most reliable source of sales volume outside of Amazon for anyone hoping to make a list. That's eroding pretty damn fast. Where are you going to get your non-Amazon sales from for a bestseller list run?
Seriously, where?
KU is changing the entire game.
All the old problems remain:
-It's a book prison. Authors can't list books anywhere but Amazon while we're in KU.
-The royalty rate and paid-for-page-reads scheme are not equitable.
-The royalties are gamed by spammers constantly, stealing millions of dollars from the shared pot every month.
-If KU doesn't suck for long books, it sucks for short books. There is always a book length that loses in KU. (Do you want art controlled by such arbitrary metrics? Don't bother to answer that, Amazon doesn't care what any of us think. eBooks are data driven now. Either get with the data, or get left behind.)
But now, we may be in the process of losing access to bestseller lists, too.
Further, the next pain point is coming. Here's how internet businesses work: They need something from people, so they pay well enough to make it attractive to get folks to do what they want. Once they hit their internal benchmarks, they cut or suspend pay. I've seen it happen over and over again. Tomorrow is never promised in ecommerce or epublishing. Authors are expendable pawns in a larger game.
With weakening sales on other retailers, Amazon can further cut payments in KU as well as reduce royalties across the board. There is no check and balance. So you can bet, once they hit whatever internal goal they are aiming for, authors will be the ones paying for it. It's just a question of when.
What's an author to do? Sell books while you can. That's all you can do. I stayed wide as long as I could because I didn't want this to happen, but there's no fighting the forces at play in the market anymore, they're too big. Sell what books you can before it all goes sideways yet again.
I think that we are moving out of ebook retailer sales completely and into alternative models of distribution like KU. Look where the growth is. It's in KU and Wattpad. Not iBooks or Googleplay or any other bookseller.
Wattpad is using ads to pay authors. It's all about free content now and authors are either paid by the page read or via advertising.
The race to the bottom is done. Now we see who survives.
Tomorrow is never promised.
PS: And yes there are always outliers. But for every one person I find doing well wide, I have 10 who aren't. The ratio needs to flip before you'll convince me I'm wrong. Three years ago it was flipped. Lots of people did well. Now, lots of people don't. (Or the person who is wide is growing, but in increments of like, $20, which is great, but it's not evidence of there being big money on retailers outside of Amazon.)
If you'd like to read a happier post, I have this one about hitting the top 100 free on Amazon . It's full of tips for those of you who haven't hit this milestone yet.
If you want more industry analysis like this, I have an irregular marketing newsletter where I pass on the tidbits I find.
Amazon is winning the market with KU. How do I know?
Look at what other retailers are doing...
1. iBooks' last promotion invitation required books to have a minimum of a hundred reviews. Which I have, easy, just not on iBooks. I'm not alone in that either, and if you're new, how are you going to claw your way into a promotion?
Well, first you have to get on their email list, which good luck with that. I have funneled dozens upon dozens of authors into iBooks' system, but I've never seen another author do that. (And, no I'm not currently collecting emails.)
To get a foot—wait, make that a pinkie toe— in the door at iBooks, you must go to a conference and network or have an author friend who is willing to get you in. Oh and make sure your book breaks out on iBooks so it gets 100 reviews ASAP. (Tip: iBooks readers don't review as much as Amazon readers. So good luck with that.)
2. Want to be a bestseller in your genre? Target Kobo. As of last week, for around 50 sales you'll be a bestselling big deal in your book's genre. You might even be able to buy a pizza with your earnings. Or, at least a cup of coffee. (This means to hit their top 100 you need a couple hundred sales, but if rank in your genre peaks at 50 sales, where are those other couple hundred sales going to come from? The readers aren't there! Literally!)
3. Nook makes me want to ugly cry and have Victorian era hysterics. They're a great market for ebooks, but they are dying. Rapidly. 95% of my books have hit the top 100 on Nook dating back to 2012. A few years ago you needed 300-500 sales to hit the top 100. Now, it's around a 100-150. The sales volume isn't there anymore.
4. Googleplay...is a black hole. Your books go in and you hope money comes out. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. And then, they fark up your pricing (even though you marked it up per all the charts floating around in indieland), resulting in all sorts of alarming emails from Amazon.
There is no mid-list on these retailer sites. There is top and bottom and almost nothing in between. Outside of Bookbub, there is no mechanism of discoverability. KU, however, has discoverability tools, rank boosts for books in its program and there is a mid-list.
So go make money in KU then, right? Well, yes and no. Authors pay a price for KU. It's not an altruistic system to benefit the arts.
Think about this: Do you want to be a USA Today or NY Times bestselling author? If you do, guess what? Low sales volume or Nook just outright dying makes that almost impossible to achieve. To hit bestseller lists your book needs to be published wide and there needs to be some semblance of sales volume for it to count. USAT and NYT curate their lists. You have to have strong sales across the board so they don't pass you by for someone else who is selling better outside of Amazon than you are.
In the past, Nook was the most reliable source of sales volume outside of Amazon for anyone hoping to make a list. That's eroding pretty damn fast. Where are you going to get your non-Amazon sales from for a bestseller list run?
Seriously, where?
KU is changing the entire game.
All the old problems remain:
-It's a book prison. Authors can't list books anywhere but Amazon while we're in KU.
-The royalty rate and paid-for-page-reads scheme are not equitable.
-The royalties are gamed by spammers constantly, stealing millions of dollars from the shared pot every month.
-If KU doesn't suck for long books, it sucks for short books. There is always a book length that loses in KU. (Do you want art controlled by such arbitrary metrics? Don't bother to answer that, Amazon doesn't care what any of us think. eBooks are data driven now. Either get with the data, or get left behind.)
But now, we may be in the process of losing access to bestseller lists, too.
Further, the next pain point is coming. Here's how internet businesses work: They need something from people, so they pay well enough to make it attractive to get folks to do what they want. Once they hit their internal benchmarks, they cut or suspend pay. I've seen it happen over and over again. Tomorrow is never promised in ecommerce or epublishing. Authors are expendable pawns in a larger game.
With weakening sales on other retailers, Amazon can further cut payments in KU as well as reduce royalties across the board. There is no check and balance. So you can bet, once they hit whatever internal goal they are aiming for, authors will be the ones paying for it. It's just a question of when.
What's an author to do? Sell books while you can. That's all you can do. I stayed wide as long as I could because I didn't want this to happen, but there's no fighting the forces at play in the market anymore, they're too big. Sell what books you can before it all goes sideways yet again.
I think that we are moving out of ebook retailer sales completely and into alternative models of distribution like KU. Look where the growth is. It's in KU and Wattpad. Not iBooks or Googleplay or any other bookseller.
Wattpad is using ads to pay authors. It's all about free content now and authors are either paid by the page read or via advertising.
The race to the bottom is done. Now we see who survives.
Tomorrow is never promised.
PS: And yes there are always outliers. But for every one person I find doing well wide, I have 10 who aren't. The ratio needs to flip before you'll convince me I'm wrong. Three years ago it was flipped. Lots of people did well. Now, lots of people don't. (Or the person who is wide is growing, but in increments of like, $20, which is great, but it's not evidence of there being big money on retailers outside of Amazon.)
If you'd like to read a happier post, I have this one about hitting the top 100 free on Amazon . It's full of tips for those of you who haven't hit this milestone yet.
If you want more industry analysis like this, I have an irregular marketing newsletter where I pass on the tidbits I find.
September 8, 2016
Free Read Finds...
Check out these two freebies that I found this week!
Remember! Always check prices before you buy! It's free at the time of posting but that can change!
Gaia
Monica La Porta
Free!
Gaia and Elios: separated by fate, united by a love so pure it crosses the universe.
In rainy Seattle, Gaia finally meets the man of her dreams, but he proves to be... otherworldly. Meanwhile, in her field of studies, what starts as an interesting archeological finding about a six-fingered human image, soon evolves into the discovery of the millennium, but not where Earth is concerned.
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU
iBooks / Nook / Kobo
Loved by the Dragon
Vivienne Savage
Free!
Chloe's weekend getaway doesn't go according to plan when she's trapped in a cave with a gorgeous, golden-eyed rescuer named Saul. His fiery secret and a hot, one-night stand will set in motion events able to change her life forever.
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU
Nook / iBooks / Kobo / Googleplay
Remember! Always check prices before you buy! It's free at the time of posting but that can change!
Gaia
Monica La Porta
Free!
Gaia and Elios: separated by fate, united by a love so pure it crosses the universe.
In rainy Seattle, Gaia finally meets the man of her dreams, but he proves to be... otherworldly. Meanwhile, in her field of studies, what starts as an interesting archeological finding about a six-fingered human image, soon evolves into the discovery of the millennium, but not where Earth is concerned.
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU
iBooks / Nook / Kobo
Loved by the Dragon
Vivienne Savage
Free!
Chloe's weekend getaway doesn't go according to plan when she's trapped in a cave with a gorgeous, golden-eyed rescuer named Saul. His fiery secret and a hot, one-night stand will set in motion events able to change her life forever.
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU
Nook / iBooks / Kobo / Googleplay
September 5, 2016
Wolf Pack 99 Cent Sale & Giveaway! Sept 7 - 9 2016
Fall into a good book with the Wolf Pack authors!All the reads below are 99¢ or f*r*e*e!
Scroll to the bottom of this page for a special giveaway!
Sale ends Friday!
REMEMBER: Check prices before you buy. They can change without notice.
Find your fantasy Alpha lover in these sizzling paranormal romances filled with danger and desire.
AMAZON
When you love a dragon, don't get burned.
AMAZON
A dragon, a wolf and the biggest gamble of their lives.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU
A dark, sexy vampire wants me--bad.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU
Ten sexy stories to heat up your Kindle - featuring six bears, three wolves & one dragon!
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU
She's lucky he's a charmer; he's lucky she doesn't bite...much.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO
Paramedical meets paranormal: Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, and More!
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO
Four sisters wielding the power of the elements, four men vowed to protect them. One mother’s quest to destroy them.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU
Prophecy is a bitch: a Novel of the Fallen Angels
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO ARe
A half vampire starts college, but a sexy traveller disrupts her plans...
AMAZON
A were-bear on a galactic search for his curvy mate.
AMAZON
A sexy veteran who really flies to the rescue.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO GOOGLEPLAY
A deadly predator and a fierce protector but when Fate's involved, not even Jaxon can fight Destiny.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO
A tavern owner + a sexy shifter outlaw = Smoking, hot paranormal romance!
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU
She deserved better than his tainted soul, but he'd never let her go.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU
For those that like just a little spice to those that like it steaming hot, our 15 authors have collaborated to bring you the best in paranormal romance.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU
Passions flare when the cold moon rises…
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO GOOGLEPLAY
My scars tell the story my lips dare not utter...
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU
Salem has never been hotter!
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO
Clashing shifter clans, a dangerous secret, and a couple caught in the middle.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO GOOGLEPLAY
Fire and Ice collide when a human meets her sexy dragon mates
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU iBOOKS KOBO
Today's Hottest Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Reads
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO
Shifters & Spice and everything... yummy!
AMAZON US AMAZON UK NOOK iBOOKS KOBO
Torn between the prince she must marry and the man she desires, Savvy must choose and find forgiveness for her sister's betrayal.
AMAZON US AMAZON UK
Seventeen Paranormal Romances of Sexy Shifters, Dangerous Vamps, & Things That Go Bump in the Night
AMAZON US AMAZON UK AMAZON AU NOOK iBOOKS KOBO
Alpha bearshifter earns second-chance at love with his curvy fated mate.
AMAZON US
Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chanceto win 1 of FOUR $100 gift cards! CLICK HERE!
Join The Wolf Pack Facebook group!
It's the place to be for readers who like a good howl:
July 18, 2016
How I hit #19 on Amazon's Top 100 Free List & Spent Less Than $200 in Advertising
Last week I offered my novel Reborn to readers for free using Amazon's KDP Select free days. To my surprise, the book hit 19 on the top 100 free list. Even cooler, it stayed in the top 100 for its entire free run.
I say surprise because Bookbub had turned it down (in your face BB!) and I didn't feel all that confident in other paid marketing venues. In fact, I booked only one paid list (Freebooksy, which actually generated a decent amount of free downloads). I was bracing myself for the whole thing to be a huge, giant FAIL only to have my book's free run perform very well.
So how did my book do so well with so little support?
Well, first of all, let me share that I've been an indie since before Bookbub existed. I was here when selling books was so easy some people made millions (I came in at the tail end of that, unfortunately) and I was here when third party lists (aka Bookbub) were the key to success and now I'm here as most of those third party lists fade and authors are left to mill about as they try to figure out what's worth spending their marketing dollars on (FB ads? Twitter ads? Amazon ads? What exactly?).
Which is why I even bothered to write this post. We're in the middle of a marketing paradigm shift. What used to work isn't very effective anymore, what does work is up in the air and the new hot things in marketing are expensive. (I just looked at a $2000 marketing package put together by one marketing site. WHAT??? And that's not the only place doing those kinds of 'packages!')
Unfortunately, I cannot offer you any quick fixes. Most of what I did relies on the fact that I've been around for a while and have built up things like my newsletter, network and key technical skills.
But, if I can do it, so can you!
AND it doesn't cost $2,000!
Here's the laundry list...
1. I spent $100 on Facebook ads. I budgeted for more, but that's what I ended up spending. Because I've been doing ads for a while, I know how to target readers and write ad copy that gets clicks. My click through rates were 10%+ at a cost of $0.08 per click. The problem was, with just 3 days in my free run, my FB ads couldn't really gear up and hit critical mass. This is one of the major drawbacks to FB ads, they don't move fast enough in the short term.
2. I hit Facebook groups. Since I've been around for years, I seem to be able to post in 50+ FB groups at one time without going to FB jail. (Please don't let writing that jinx me!) I hit the groups hard at the start of the free run and just before it ended. It definitely moved books BUT note that I spent some time on my 'ad copy.' I didn't slap just any ol' string of words into my posts.
3.Reborn is part of a larger project. So I had other authors who wanted to see Reborn do well because it also benefited them via sell through to their books in the series. They helped promote the free run.
4.I am part of a strong author community in my genre. I've built both the Wolf Pack reader group and a private parallel group for authors in my genre. When we work together, we are a marketing powerhouse. Reborn is not the first book in the group to rank on the top 100 free list and I doubt it will be the last. (We are also pretty good at improving rank and sales on paid books, but that's a whole other post.) Authors spread the word on my free run and I did some newsletter swaps for the book as well (i.e. I share their book, they share mine.)
5. I have a big newsletter (since I'm such an ancient indie and all) and readers supported the free run. They downloaded, shared posts, liked my FB post in various groups and were generally behind the book cheering it on. (THANK YOU READERS!) So basically, I went into this free run with a reader base, which always helps.
6. I made sure to tell everyone this was the first time Reborn had ever been free so readers would know they probably hadn't one clicked this particular book before. I also emphasized there were more books in the series--all in KU, which made it attractive to readers using KU.
7. Being in KU does seem to confer some extra sparkle to a free run. I don't have a lot of experience with KU, but Amazon's system really loved my book for whatever reason.
8. The book was on trend. I didn't take a book in a genre that no one cares about right now (my Burlesque action adventure romance *sob*) and set that free. No, I focused on a genre that I knew had a strong audience.
TIP: Regardless of how you write your genre, always angle your marketing to what's trending (without crossing the line into outright lying because no one likes a liar, but don't be afraid to highlight what's hot in your books...or to slap your hero on a motorcycle if everyone's digging motorcycles. No, that's not a cheap trick, it's called giving your book market appeal, much like a house needs to have curb appeal. Appeal to readers, make them happy and you'll sell books!).
WHY DID I GIVE MY BOOK AWAY FOR FREE?
For those who don't see the value in a free run, here's why I did it:
1. To push the whole series (which it did very well).
2. To find new readers (who are signing up for my newsletter in droves).
Free has a (deferred) payoff, but you must know how you're going to make it worth the initial loss of sales revenue.
Are you an author? Did you like this post? Want more? I have an irregular marketing newsletter that you can sign up for. I do NOT promote my books or anyone else's. There's no bookselling. It's just for marketing information and posts like this one.
The sign up is here: http://eepurl.com/UO8jb
I say surprise because Bookbub had turned it down (in your face BB!) and I didn't feel all that confident in other paid marketing venues. In fact, I booked only one paid list (Freebooksy, which actually generated a decent amount of free downloads). I was bracing myself for the whole thing to be a huge, giant FAIL only to have my book's free run perform very well.
So how did my book do so well with so little support?
Well, first of all, let me share that I've been an indie since before Bookbub existed. I was here when selling books was so easy some people made millions (I came in at the tail end of that, unfortunately) and I was here when third party lists (aka Bookbub) were the key to success and now I'm here as most of those third party lists fade and authors are left to mill about as they try to figure out what's worth spending their marketing dollars on (FB ads? Twitter ads? Amazon ads? What exactly?).
Which is why I even bothered to write this post. We're in the middle of a marketing paradigm shift. What used to work isn't very effective anymore, what does work is up in the air and the new hot things in marketing are expensive. (I just looked at a $2000 marketing package put together by one marketing site. WHAT??? And that's not the only place doing those kinds of 'packages!')
Unfortunately, I cannot offer you any quick fixes. Most of what I did relies on the fact that I've been around for a while and have built up things like my newsletter, network and key technical skills.
But, if I can do it, so can you!
AND it doesn't cost $2,000!
Here's the laundry list...
1. I spent $100 on Facebook ads. I budgeted for more, but that's what I ended up spending. Because I've been doing ads for a while, I know how to target readers and write ad copy that gets clicks. My click through rates were 10%+ at a cost of $0.08 per click. The problem was, with just 3 days in my free run, my FB ads couldn't really gear up and hit critical mass. This is one of the major drawbacks to FB ads, they don't move fast enough in the short term.
2. I hit Facebook groups. Since I've been around for years, I seem to be able to post in 50+ FB groups at one time without going to FB jail. (Please don't let writing that jinx me!) I hit the groups hard at the start of the free run and just before it ended. It definitely moved books BUT note that I spent some time on my 'ad copy.' I didn't slap just any ol' string of words into my posts.
3.Reborn is part of a larger project. So I had other authors who wanted to see Reborn do well because it also benefited them via sell through to their books in the series. They helped promote the free run.
4.I am part of a strong author community in my genre. I've built both the Wolf Pack reader group and a private parallel group for authors in my genre. When we work together, we are a marketing powerhouse. Reborn is not the first book in the group to rank on the top 100 free list and I doubt it will be the last. (We are also pretty good at improving rank and sales on paid books, but that's a whole other post.) Authors spread the word on my free run and I did some newsletter swaps for the book as well (i.e. I share their book, they share mine.)
5. I have a big newsletter (since I'm such an ancient indie and all) and readers supported the free run. They downloaded, shared posts, liked my FB post in various groups and were generally behind the book cheering it on. (THANK YOU READERS!) So basically, I went into this free run with a reader base, which always helps.
6. I made sure to tell everyone this was the first time Reborn had ever been free so readers would know they probably hadn't one clicked this particular book before. I also emphasized there were more books in the series--all in KU, which made it attractive to readers using KU.
7. Being in KU does seem to confer some extra sparkle to a free run. I don't have a lot of experience with KU, but Amazon's system really loved my book for whatever reason.
8. The book was on trend. I didn't take a book in a genre that no one cares about right now (my Burlesque action adventure romance *sob*) and set that free. No, I focused on a genre that I knew had a strong audience.
TIP: Regardless of how you write your genre, always angle your marketing to what's trending (without crossing the line into outright lying because no one likes a liar, but don't be afraid to highlight what's hot in your books...or to slap your hero on a motorcycle if everyone's digging motorcycles. No, that's not a cheap trick, it's called giving your book market appeal, much like a house needs to have curb appeal. Appeal to readers, make them happy and you'll sell books!).
WHY DID I GIVE MY BOOK AWAY FOR FREE?
For those who don't see the value in a free run, here's why I did it:
1. To push the whole series (which it did very well).
2. To find new readers (who are signing up for my newsletter in droves).
Free has a (deferred) payoff, but you must know how you're going to make it worth the initial loss of sales revenue.
Are you an author? Did you like this post? Want more? I have an irregular marketing newsletter that you can sign up for. I do NOT promote my books or anyone else's. There's no bookselling. It's just for marketing information and posts like this one.
The sign up is here: http://eepurl.com/UO8jb
