Ryan Casey's Blog, page 17

KDP Select Free Promo: The Secret to Hitting the Top 100

I just re-enrolled Something in the Cellar for another three-month period of Amazon’s KDP Select programme.

For those of you who don’t know, KDP Select is Amazon’s exclusivity deal for authors. Basically, you pledge not to sell your digital book outside of Amazon for 90 days, and they allow you to promote your book for free for five of those days.

I’ve run a few free promos since launching my two short stories Something in the Cellar and Silhouette, to varying levels of success. I’ve experiment...

The Walking Dead Season 3: Why it’s the Best Show on TV

SPOILER ALERT: This blog post may contain spoilers up to Episode 5 of The Walking Dead Season 3. If you haven’t yet watched to this point, here’s your warning.

I’ll confess something, right up — I wasn’t actually that fond of Season One of AMC’s The Walking Dead. After hearing rave reviews all round and being a general lover of all things horror, particularly all things zombie, it pretty much became essential viewing.

I was wowed by the opening episode and its 28 Days Later-esque doom and gloom...

Should Writers Blog About Writing?

I’ve seen lots of opposition to the idea that writers should blog about writing since I started blogging about writing back in June.

The main argument against is that everything that can be written about writing already has been written, and by much more established sources at that. If you’re after comprehensive walkthroughs on marketing, The Creative Penn has it covered, whereas The Writing Bomb provides a useful first-hand insight into the world of publishing.

Kristen Lamb, the founder of MyW...

Write for Pleasure, Not for the Pennies

It’s something of a cliché that writers don’t make any money. Of course, it is a myth, because plenty of writers out there are rolling in their millions, guaranteed a new bestseller regardless of the quality or standard of the prose.

Then again, that probably accounts for 1% of writers, maybe even fewer. Writing as a ‘career’ is one to shy away from, a hobby that grows out of control. ‘You’ll never make any money,’ people say. ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’

I just want to provide a little bit o...

Amazon Removing Reviews: Why it’s Bad for Indie Authors

Notice your Amazon page looking a little… well, barer than usual?

After a number of controversies surrounding sock puppet book reviews in 2012, Amazon have decided to go nuclear and remove thousands of book reviews from their website. We’re talking everything from legitimate reviews to fake sock-puppet cases.

Let me get one thing straight from the off–it’s kind of good that Amazon have finally addressed a flawed review system whereby anybody can create a number of accounts and post multiple rev...

Twitter Spam: What is Spamming & How Do I Avoid It?

There is a brutal four-letter word out there that nobody likes to be accused of. The sort of word that can cripple confidence and force one to rethink entire marketing strategies. It’s a silent word, a word often whispered about in small groups before somebody finally finds the balls to hit you with the accusation. Of course, I’m talking about spam.

But what is spam, really?

I’ve seen many definitions of the word banded about. Is spam the regular posting of updates? Is it relentless sales-talk...

The Common Mistake 99% of Writers Make With Their Book Description – Guest Post

The following is a guest post from author Mark Edwards.

I spend a lot of time reading and analysing book descriptions on Amazon. Last year, when Killing Cupid was stuck just outside the top 100 on Kindle, I became convinced it was because of the description. So I studied the books in the top ten and tried to work out what it was that made those descriptions work so sell. Then I rewrote the Killing Cupid blurb.

An hour later, sales had doubled and the book was in the top hundred. A week later, it...

Building Your Author Platform – Part 4: Expanding Your Reach

This is the final instalment in a four-part author platform building series. Part 1 covered the basics of getting everything in place, Part 2 looked at choosing a suitable layout and pages for your website, and Part 3 focused on blogging.

Week Four is here already – that went quick, didn’t it? If you’ve been following the author platform building journey, then you’ll have an attractive website in place through WordPress and will hopefully be getting started with your blogging.

However, you have...

Halloween Giveaway: Something in the Cellar & Silhouette FREE This Weekend!

I don’t know about you lot, but I love Halloween. I also happen to love freebies, which is why I’m throwing a special Halloween Giveaway for my two short storiesSomething in the CellarandSilhouette.

Something in the Cellaris free NOW on Amazon.com and Amazon UK for 48 hours. If you haven’t grabbed a copy yet, pick one up. If you have, please tell all of your friends to do so. This will be the final opportunity to getSomething in the Cellarfor free of charge, so spread the word.

But the good stu...

Twitter Marketing in 30 Seconds: A No Bullsh*t Guide

It’s late, I’m tired, and for some reason I’m thinking about social media again.

I occasionally get people asking me for a quick, simple guide to Twitter marketing. I’ve done the lengthy stuff in the past -‘Give me something short and sweet that I can implement instantly,’people cry.

To those people: I introduce to you the ‘No Bullsh*t’ guide. It’ll run from time to time, when you’re least expecting it, off-schedule and a welcome break from the wordiness of my other posts.

Anyway, enough waffle....