Diem Burden's Blog, page 4
October 11, 2015
Before Kicking the Bucket
1000ft over CambridgeHeart attackI was shocked to wake up the other day. Not because I woke up, but because it was my 50th birthday. 50th! How did that happen? It feels (and sounds) so old. My father died in his 50s from his second heart attack. It makes me a little nervous, and also focuses my attention on where my life is going, what I've achieved so far and if I could do something to make me more content. I don't want to think about the dying bit yet, as I haven't finished with living! In fact, a long time ago I decided that there were some things I definitely wanted to achieve before that day came. I narrowed it down to five and I don't intend on dying until I have ticked them all off!
My top fivea black belt in martial artsto qualify as a pilotto speak another languageto publish a bookto play a musical instrumentSo, how am I doing?
My progress
Not in my top fiveI managed a brown belt in martial arts and went for my black belt, but due to a cock-up at national level it wasn't to be.I qualified as a pilot of light fixed-wing aircraft.I live in Spain and can communicate in Spanish, although not as well as I'd like to but I am still learning.I have now published four books and am working on the next 15!I bought a guitar, I self-taught for a few years and was progressing, but life has a way of intruding on guitar practice. It will happen one day.How about you? Are you drifting through life with no overall objectives or are you, like me, working on those all-important goals? Before you kick the bucket...
October 4, 2015
Why aren't you growing your newsletter sign ups?
A newsletter is a great way to get readers to your books, especially new releases. There are many newsletter providers available, and it is easy to find a free one.
I use MailChimp as I find it very easy to set up and run, and since adding a link to the back of my books I have seen it gradually grow. I currently have 31 genuine newsletter sign ups. It doesn't sound much, I know, but it is a start and it is heading upwards!
To encourage more people to sign up, I've decided to offer a free, exclusive ebook to people on my list. Once this is written, I will send it to those good people and set it up to auto-send to new sign ups as a thank you.
I hope to see the rate of sign up increase with this exclusive offer! I'll keep you posted...
(and just in case you are interested, here's mine ->>> Newsletter)
I use MailChimp as I find it very easy to set up and run, and since adding a link to the back of my books I have seen it gradually grow. I currently have 31 genuine newsletter sign ups. It doesn't sound much, I know, but it is a start and it is heading upwards!To encourage more people to sign up, I've decided to offer a free, exclusive ebook to people on my list. Once this is written, I will send it to those good people and set it up to auto-send to new sign ups as a thank you.
I hope to see the rate of sign up increase with this exclusive offer! I'll keep you posted...
(and just in case you are interested, here's mine ->>> Newsletter)
March 10, 2015
The Long Walk Home (a true short story)
It wasn’t the distance to home that silenced us. Two miles was in fact nothing for our young legs, we’d walked a lot further in search of action and adventure. We weren’t even tired, despite having continuously played our imaginative games in the park for the last four hours. And what games they’d been.We knew the park like the back of our hands. First we’d run down the weird undulations of the fields to the swings and the absurdly high slide. Nobody told us the significance of the undulations. It was only years later that I discovered that they were in fact evidence of medieval farming actions.
Preparing for a childhood of adventure - the Burden Brothers But to us, they were something to run along and up and down as we flew our human aeroplanes all the way down to the play area near the bottom.
Having tired of the slide, we’d head further down the field to the river at the bottom. Getting wet feet back then was not only acceptable but expected. How else were we to capture Sticklebacks and Bullheads?
Once bored with the river we would walk parallel to the train track to the new pond area. What a great place to skim stones across the surface, scoring points for landing them on the small island.
Having exhausted the stones, we would then become a little more daring. Next to the lake was a small tunnel entrance. More of a culvert really. Incredibly, this tiny entrance was not closed off and proved just large enough for a small boy to crawl into. We all knew where it went to. After about twenty metres of crawling, any daring kid would be hidden in total darkness. After about another eighty metres you’d be directly below the train track. It was here that you prayed. Please, no trains!
If a train did come, not only would you hear it passing a few metres above your head but you’d also feel the vibrations through the ground and the disjointed brick work. Dust would fall invisibly onto your white face. Normally, the final thirty metres would be done in double-quick time as the tiny kids emerged blinking into the sun, hidden amongst an old barn at the edge of a field. It was just a quick hop over the farmer’s gate and short sprint across the train track back to the safety and familiarity of the park.
Having done all of this, the small band of nine-year-olds picked up a small track on the other side of the river, immediately adjacent to the train line. We’d never walked this path before and set off in search of something new.
About halfway along we discovered a gap in the railings guarding the track. It was the small hut that did it for us. A small brick hut just on the other side of the railings.
We were drawn through the gap and stepped into the hut. We’d found a new den, an apparently well-hidden or at least private den where we could fool around and play games and not worry about trespassers. And so it was that we spent the next hour playing in and around this new den, climbing through the hole where the window should have been and not caring about anything but the game.
We should have been more alert to the dangers really. After about five trains had passed just outside the window of the hut, close and fast enough to cause a massive whoosh of air, the sixth train crawled past the hut, slow enough for the driver to lean out of his window and shout something at us. I have no recollection of what he actually hollered but I do recall it wasn’t very nice. How did he know we were there? Why had he slowed down to a crawl on this rather fast part of the rail network?
We had no idea that other drivers had seen us kids scurrying into the hut as their trains had approached, or that they had radios and were in communicated with some distant control room, telling them of a group of kids playing dangerously on the track.
It was enough, however, to frighten us off. We left the train-side of the fence, headed through the gap in the railings and back onto the track. We turned to walk along it only to see a dark figure a hundred yards up the track. The filth!
The Burden brothers in the park of their youth.Being the decent and sensible kids that we were, we turned and ran in the opposite direction. We didn’t know that the police had anticipated such behaviour and had split up, both approaching along the track from opposite directions. We had a choice: jump into the river and wade across or go back onto the train track. Being the brave sorts we were, we waited for the officer to reach us and watched him write our names into his pocket notebook. What added insult to injury was the fact that he recognised my surname and said he knew our dad. Everybody knew our dad: sometimes it was a bonus, other times a curse.
Dad. Oh bugger.
“Don’t go near that railway line!” he’d called to us, as we left home to head to the park.
“We won’t,” we’d promised. “We’re not stupid!”
And now the policeman who knew our dad - was it as a friend or for bad things? - was on his way to our house to tell him that we’d been caught playing on the train track which we’d promised him we’d not go near.
We trudged on in terrified silence. It’d be all over the street by the time we got back - every parent would know what we’d been up to and would be waiting for us on their respective doorsteps.
I don’t recall our punishment but I’m sure it was severe yet well-deserved.
How our dad ever trusted us again I’ll never know.
Preparing for a childhood of adventure - the Burden Brothers But to us, they were something to run along and up and down as we flew our human aeroplanes all the way down to the play area near the bottom.Having tired of the slide, we’d head further down the field to the river at the bottom. Getting wet feet back then was not only acceptable but expected. How else were we to capture Sticklebacks and Bullheads?
Once bored with the river we would walk parallel to the train track to the new pond area. What a great place to skim stones across the surface, scoring points for landing them on the small island.
Having exhausted the stones, we would then become a little more daring. Next to the lake was a small tunnel entrance. More of a culvert really. Incredibly, this tiny entrance was not closed off and proved just large enough for a small boy to crawl into. We all knew where it went to. After about twenty metres of crawling, any daring kid would be hidden in total darkness. After about another eighty metres you’d be directly below the train track. It was here that you prayed. Please, no trains!
If a train did come, not only would you hear it passing a few metres above your head but you’d also feel the vibrations through the ground and the disjointed brick work. Dust would fall invisibly onto your white face. Normally, the final thirty metres would be done in double-quick time as the tiny kids emerged blinking into the sun, hidden amongst an old barn at the edge of a field. It was just a quick hop over the farmer’s gate and short sprint across the train track back to the safety and familiarity of the park.
Having done all of this, the small band of nine-year-olds picked up a small track on the other side of the river, immediately adjacent to the train line. We’d never walked this path before and set off in search of something new.
About halfway along we discovered a gap in the railings guarding the track. It was the small hut that did it for us. A small brick hut just on the other side of the railings.
We were drawn through the gap and stepped into the hut. We’d found a new den, an apparently well-hidden or at least private den where we could fool around and play games and not worry about trespassers. And so it was that we spent the next hour playing in and around this new den, climbing through the hole where the window should have been and not caring about anything but the game.
We should have been more alert to the dangers really. After about five trains had passed just outside the window of the hut, close and fast enough to cause a massive whoosh of air, the sixth train crawled past the hut, slow enough for the driver to lean out of his window and shout something at us. I have no recollection of what he actually hollered but I do recall it wasn’t very nice. How did he know we were there? Why had he slowed down to a crawl on this rather fast part of the rail network?
We had no idea that other drivers had seen us kids scurrying into the hut as their trains had approached, or that they had radios and were in communicated with some distant control room, telling them of a group of kids playing dangerously on the track.
It was enough, however, to frighten us off. We left the train-side of the fence, headed through the gap in the railings and back onto the track. We turned to walk along it only to see a dark figure a hundred yards up the track. The filth!
The Burden brothers in the park of their youth.Being the decent and sensible kids that we were, we turned and ran in the opposite direction. We didn’t know that the police had anticipated such behaviour and had split up, both approaching along the track from opposite directions. We had a choice: jump into the river and wade across or go back onto the train track. Being the brave sorts we were, we waited for the officer to reach us and watched him write our names into his pocket notebook. What added insult to injury was the fact that he recognised my surname and said he knew our dad. Everybody knew our dad: sometimes it was a bonus, other times a curse. Dad. Oh bugger.
“Don’t go near that railway line!” he’d called to us, as we left home to head to the park.
“We won’t,” we’d promised. “We’re not stupid!”
And now the policeman who knew our dad - was it as a friend or for bad things? - was on his way to our house to tell him that we’d been caught playing on the train track which we’d promised him we’d not go near.
We trudged on in terrified silence. It’d be all over the street by the time we got back - every parent would know what we’d been up to and would be waiting for us on their respective doorsteps.
I don’t recall our punishment but I’m sure it was severe yet well-deserved.
How our dad ever trusted us again I’ll never know.
August 26, 2014
When writing takes a back seat to a dog.
I try to write, I really do. At my last sitting a put down 2,500 words, but that was three (four?) days ago now and I haven't been able to get back to it at all.
Animals and the SpanishAnimals are partly to blame. You see, I live in a country where animals are treated merely as a commodity, with very little love shown to them if any. I live in Spain, a country famous for its bull fighting and bull running and numerous other 'traditional activities' which usually mean an animal has to suffer to please the people.
AbandonedIn the small region where I live (La Rioja, pop: 320,000), 5,000 dogs are abandoned each summer when families take off for three months vacation, the dog being nothing more than a costly nuisance. If it is there when they come back, they might even take it in again. Over 300,000 pets are abandoned in Spain EVERY year, the worst country for abandonment in the European Union. After 10 days, Spanish law says they must be killed.
Adoption
Me with Pitbulls ELTON (L) and Rasta (R)
Elton cuddles up to my wifeWhat's this to do with my writing? Well, due to my love for animals and in an attempt to make up for the Spanish indifference to their animals, I recently went to the local charitable dogs' home, (Asociación Protectora de Animales en La Rioja) with my wife to see if we could help at all. The amazing volunteers there collect dogs from the local government killing houses and attempt to give them a longer life at the shelter, trying to have them adopted by people who care. We sponsored two Pitbulls, simply because they told us NOBODY will have anything to do with them due to the negative publicity re the breed, and because they were two of the friendliest dogs I have ever met. It means that we now drive the 25 mins to the shelter each day and take the two dogs out for a walk. They love it, and so do we.
Own dogsThis is on top of my own two dogs. Nina the Dalmatian was bought in Spain and - due to inconsiderate breeding - is 100% deaf. She is now 12 years old and doing fine, capable of understanding at least 15 hand signals. Adah is a 9 month old German Shepherd we bought in La Rioja. Today we confirmed that she has severe Dysplasia in both hips and needs an operation. She is in so much pain and I feared we were going to lose her. Dysplasia is very common in Spain, as most people just breed any dog to make a profit with little thought for the welfare of the dog.
Adah (L) and Nina (R)I'll never BUY another dog in Spain as I can't trust the people to care enough to breed healthy animals, but I will go to the shelter and adopt dogs from there. If I had space, I'd take in Elton and Rasta tomorrow.
As for my writing, it seems a tad irrelevant right now.
Animals and the SpanishAnimals are partly to blame. You see, I live in a country where animals are treated merely as a commodity, with very little love shown to them if any. I live in Spain, a country famous for its bull fighting and bull running and numerous other 'traditional activities' which usually mean an animal has to suffer to please the people.
AbandonedIn the small region where I live (La Rioja, pop: 320,000), 5,000 dogs are abandoned each summer when families take off for three months vacation, the dog being nothing more than a costly nuisance. If it is there when they come back, they might even take it in again. Over 300,000 pets are abandoned in Spain EVERY year, the worst country for abandonment in the European Union. After 10 days, Spanish law says they must be killed.
Adoption
Me with Pitbulls ELTON (L) and Rasta (R)
Elton cuddles up to my wifeWhat's this to do with my writing? Well, due to my love for animals and in an attempt to make up for the Spanish indifference to their animals, I recently went to the local charitable dogs' home, (Asociación Protectora de Animales en La Rioja) with my wife to see if we could help at all. The amazing volunteers there collect dogs from the local government killing houses and attempt to give them a longer life at the shelter, trying to have them adopted by people who care. We sponsored two Pitbulls, simply because they told us NOBODY will have anything to do with them due to the negative publicity re the breed, and because they were two of the friendliest dogs I have ever met. It means that we now drive the 25 mins to the shelter each day and take the two dogs out for a walk. They love it, and so do we.Own dogsThis is on top of my own two dogs. Nina the Dalmatian was bought in Spain and - due to inconsiderate breeding - is 100% deaf. She is now 12 years old and doing fine, capable of understanding at least 15 hand signals. Adah is a 9 month old German Shepherd we bought in La Rioja. Today we confirmed that she has severe Dysplasia in both hips and needs an operation. She is in so much pain and I feared we were going to lose her. Dysplasia is very common in Spain, as most people just breed any dog to make a profit with little thought for the welfare of the dog.
Adah (L) and Nina (R)I'll never BUY another dog in Spain as I can't trust the people to care enough to breed healthy animals, but I will go to the shelter and adopt dogs from there. If I had space, I'd take in Elton and Rasta tomorrow.As for my writing, it seems a tad irrelevant right now.
April 21, 2014
Foundation Monitoring
As I prepare for the release of book three of The Rozzers series, I like to keep an eye on what's happening with the previous two books.
Passive MarketingAs you may know, End of the Road is permanently free, and links through to the second book in the series, Cops Don't Run (0.99c). That is all the marketing I do, nothing more. This I call passive marketing (it is visible on my FB page, blog etc). I don't do active marketing (or very little, and only occasionally). If only I had the time!
So, how are the books doing?
DownloadsEnd of the Road has been downloaded nearly 7,000 times in the last 16 months, and has never been off the #1 spot in various categories (that's over 100 copies per week). Success? I think so, although obviously I don't earn anything from it, but then that is not my intention with this book.
End of the Road on Amazon UK (today)SalesSince Cops Don't Run was published in Nov 2013, it has sold 250 copies (approx 10 per week). Again, it is not actively promoted. For the first few months I was selling one copy per day. The last few months that has doubled to two copies per day. The majority of these sales are conversions from book one readers (they liked what they read in the free book and decided to go on and buy book 2) - this was my marketing plan all along.
Conversion rateThe interesting thing is that as downloads for book one show a slight decline over the last few months, purchases of book two seem to be increasing. In January, the conversion rate was 13.2 copies of EotR for every one copy of CdR bought. That rate has steadily improved, and is currently at 6.1 free copies downloaded for every one copy purchased.
Publishing
My mum, and #1 fanAs actual sales have steadily increased since January (now selling 2.2 copies per day, up from 1.2 in Jan), it would seem to be a good time to publish the third part, as I believe that the 250 buyers of book 2 will want to buy book 3 as well. If I can get them all to buy it on the release date, the book should get pushed high up the charts.
To achieve this, I plan to use the preorder option with Amazon and Smashwords, and of course announce its availability on my ever-increasing newsletter, Twitter, FB and blog.
I will also tell my mum, as she tells everybody and anybody back in my home town!
Passive MarketingAs you may know, End of the Road is permanently free, and links through to the second book in the series, Cops Don't Run (0.99c). That is all the marketing I do, nothing more. This I call passive marketing (it is visible on my FB page, blog etc). I don't do active marketing (or very little, and only occasionally). If only I had the time!
So, how are the books doing?
DownloadsEnd of the Road has been downloaded nearly 7,000 times in the last 16 months, and has never been off the #1 spot in various categories (that's over 100 copies per week). Success? I think so, although obviously I don't earn anything from it, but then that is not my intention with this book.
+eBook-+Diem+Burden-+Amazon.co.uk-+Kindle+Store+2014-04-21+18-21-52.png)
End of the Road on Amazon UK (today)SalesSince Cops Don't Run was published in Nov 2013, it has sold 250 copies (approx 10 per week). Again, it is not actively promoted. For the first few months I was selling one copy per day. The last few months that has doubled to two copies per day. The majority of these sales are conversions from book one readers (they liked what they read in the free book and decided to go on and buy book 2) - this was my marketing plan all along.Conversion rateThe interesting thing is that as downloads for book one show a slight decline over the last few months, purchases of book two seem to be increasing. In January, the conversion rate was 13.2 copies of EotR for every one copy of CdR bought. That rate has steadily improved, and is currently at 6.1 free copies downloaded for every one copy purchased.
Publishing
My mum, and #1 fanAs actual sales have steadily increased since January (now selling 2.2 copies per day, up from 1.2 in Jan), it would seem to be a good time to publish the third part, as I believe that the 250 buyers of book 2 will want to buy book 3 as well. If I can get them all to buy it on the release date, the book should get pushed high up the charts. To achieve this, I plan to use the preorder option with Amazon and Smashwords, and of course announce its availability on my ever-increasing newsletter, Twitter, FB and blog.
I will also tell my mum, as she tells everybody and anybody back in my home town!
November 23, 2013
It's great to feel like an author!
There is no greater feeling than that of finally beginning to feel like an author after almost a decade of hard, almost impossible writing. I initially began to feel the first stirrings of being an author when I published my first book, End of the Road. I felt a tad more like one when I finally published the follow up, Cops Don't Run.
Now, when I look at the two books together with their amazing covers, I positively glow with pride. It's great to feel like an author!!
Now, when I look at the two books together with their amazing covers, I positively glow with pride. It's great to feel like an author!!
Writing & publishing was the easy part
So you've just hit the publish button for that book you've been labouring over for the last God-knows how many years. Now you can sit back, smile and relax, and just wait for the money to flow in.
Well, I certainly recommend relaxing and smiling, you have jolly-well earned it. Writing a quality book, having it edited and proof-read, and finally formatting it for Amazon and Smashwords is no easy task and you deserve a rest. But now the work really begins.
Invisible Firstly, your book is sitting amongst 1.5 million other books. It's most probably completely invisible, only findable by people you send its way through active or passive marketing. What you need to do is ensure that book and the information presented with it is not only up-to-date, but grabs the reader's attention before they click on another book presented below yours. I am amazed just how many books are sitting on Amazon without these basic requirements. Here are a few ideas of things that you should be doing after you have published your book.
Additional images
Me at 24yrs of ageAmazon displays an image of your book. Did you know you can add additional images to sit alongside your book cover? Images grab attention, and somebody glancing at your book image might be about to move on from it until they see a second, smaller image with it. Then they'll click on it. This may lead to further clicks and keep the reader on your book page. That is what you want - the longer they stay, the more likely they are to buy your book. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, my first book (End of the Road) has an image of me as a 24yr old soldier with it. Why? Because it is a true account of a particular day when I was that young military man. What better way is there to read it than with an image of the man in your mind. Take a look here. Can you see, just below the main book image, two smaller images? Go on, I know you want to click on it. Stay on that page, because I'm going to talk about the text underneath the additional picture next.
'Book description' Once the viewer has clocked your additional pictures their eye will glance down at what you have to offer. This is another chance to seize them or lose them. The Book Description field as a place where you can add some impact to your page. The first thing you see on my page is a review, in bold, yelling out the qualities of my book. This is immediately followed by About the Book, where I mention that the book hit #1 in its category. Getting the picture now? My book is growing in value. I've also added a warning about the content, as some people are offended by strong language and may paste a negative review. I have given them fair warning.
Beneath the warning is a teaser for the book, followed by a handful of other reviews. All you need to do to add such details is log into your Amazon Author Central account, select your book page followed by your book. The Product Description page is where I added the above details. Scrolling down the page gives you additional fields, such as From the Author and About the Author. Again, add some detail to these sections as they will appear on the page and give you more chance to trap the viewer. Back to the books sales page, you'll see mine appear beneath Customers who Bought this Item also Bought... Hopefully, I have created sufficient interest in the viewer that they won't click on one of these other books, choosing instead to skip over them to read more about me.
Below these are the book details (including any category it is in). Again, if you can be top of a category this will help the viewer to become a buyer. Below this are the all-important reviews, creating another prompt for the viewer to buy (get some reviews if you don't have any!!).
ShelfariBeneath the reviews is a section called Book Extras from the Shelfari Community. More selling space! To add this, you need to visit Shelfari, claim the book and add the details. Others can also add to this information if they so wish. Shelfari is now owned by Amazon and will come into use more and more.
'More about the Author' pageThe final space for you to keep the viewers attention is a link to your Amazon author's page. Make sure you have updated this with links to your Twitter, blog, newsletter etc. Click on the link and note the additional photos included here too.
Once you've done all of that, you'll need to do the same for the other Author Central's you have (I do it for AuthorCentral.com and AuthorCentral.co.uk, my two main markets.)
FinallyIt's not over yet. You still need to update the book on any other sites that you have listed you and your book, eg Authors Database, Goodreads, Pinterest, Facebook page and your blog and or website. If you don't have them, I suggest getting on with it right now!
Well, I certainly recommend relaxing and smiling, you have jolly-well earned it. Writing a quality book, having it edited and proof-read, and finally formatting it for Amazon and Smashwords is no easy task and you deserve a rest. But now the work really begins.
Invisible Firstly, your book is sitting amongst 1.5 million other books. It's most probably completely invisible, only findable by people you send its way through active or passive marketing. What you need to do is ensure that book and the information presented with it is not only up-to-date, but grabs the reader's attention before they click on another book presented below yours. I am amazed just how many books are sitting on Amazon without these basic requirements. Here are a few ideas of things that you should be doing after you have published your book.
Additional images
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Me at 24yrs of ageAmazon displays an image of your book. Did you know you can add additional images to sit alongside your book cover? Images grab attention, and somebody glancing at your book image might be about to move on from it until they see a second, smaller image with it. Then they'll click on it. This may lead to further clicks and keep the reader on your book page. That is what you want - the longer they stay, the more likely they are to buy your book. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, my first book (End of the Road) has an image of me as a 24yr old soldier with it. Why? Because it is a true account of a particular day when I was that young military man. What better way is there to read it than with an image of the man in your mind. Take a look here. Can you see, just below the main book image, two smaller images? Go on, I know you want to click on it. Stay on that page, because I'm going to talk about the text underneath the additional picture next.'Book description' Once the viewer has clocked your additional pictures their eye will glance down at what you have to offer. This is another chance to seize them or lose them. The Book Description field as a place where you can add some impact to your page. The first thing you see on my page is a review, in bold, yelling out the qualities of my book. This is immediately followed by About the Book, where I mention that the book hit #1 in its category. Getting the picture now? My book is growing in value. I've also added a warning about the content, as some people are offended by strong language and may paste a negative review. I have given them fair warning.
Beneath the warning is a teaser for the book, followed by a handful of other reviews. All you need to do to add such details is log into your Amazon Author Central account, select your book page followed by your book. The Product Description page is where I added the above details. Scrolling down the page gives you additional fields, such as From the Author and About the Author. Again, add some detail to these sections as they will appear on the page and give you more chance to trap the viewer. Back to the books sales page, you'll see mine appear beneath Customers who Bought this Item also Bought... Hopefully, I have created sufficient interest in the viewer that they won't click on one of these other books, choosing instead to skip over them to read more about me.
Below these are the book details (including any category it is in). Again, if you can be top of a category this will help the viewer to become a buyer. Below this are the all-important reviews, creating another prompt for the viewer to buy (get some reviews if you don't have any!!).
ShelfariBeneath the reviews is a section called Book Extras from the Shelfari Community. More selling space! To add this, you need to visit Shelfari, claim the book and add the details. Others can also add to this information if they so wish. Shelfari is now owned by Amazon and will come into use more and more.
'More about the Author' pageThe final space for you to keep the viewers attention is a link to your Amazon author's page. Make sure you have updated this with links to your Twitter, blog, newsletter etc. Click on the link and note the additional photos included here too.
Once you've done all of that, you'll need to do the same for the other Author Central's you have (I do it for AuthorCentral.com and AuthorCentral.co.uk, my two main markets.)
FinallyIt's not over yet. You still need to update the book on any other sites that you have listed you and your book, eg Authors Database, Goodreads, Pinterest, Facebook page and your blog and or website. If you don't have them, I suggest getting on with it right now!
August 17, 2013
Why your free book stops 'selling' when it reverts to a price
If, like me, you have a book out there for free, you may have noticed that it suddenly stops 'selling' when it reverts to its original price. Devastating, isn't it? This happened to me recently and I think I know why nobody buys it when Amazon suddenly lists it at the original price. First, a bit of background.
My storyI have a short story called END OF THE ROAD, which I'd originally priced at 99c. It is part one of five, part two is due out soon. It sold a few copies a week, and it wasn't going to make me rich, so I decided to reduce the price to zero on Smashwords and eventually Amazon price-matched it. Downloads took off, hitting 155 in the first month. Since then, a steady month on month increase has been recorded (see graph).
Downloads for END OF THE ROAD in 2013Sales figuresJune was a blip, having been featured on a highly-followed website, but that helped with July's figures, pushing into high visibility on Amazon via its lists and other behind the scenes fumblings. August is showing strong sales and is already on target to surpass July, even though we are only halfway through the month.
It's clear that the numbers are increasing month on month, despite the book suddenly being listed on Amazon.co.uk at its original price for a few days in August. This caused the UK downloads to stop dead, effecting my overall figures.
Immediate actionThe first thing I did was go to the book page on Amazon and click on the link "Tell us about a lower price", to notify them that the book is STILL free elsewhere (Smashwords is not sufficient, you must give a link to your book being sold on an online store such as Apple or Sony). Eventually, it will revert to free again.
Whilst I was waiting for the price to match I was astounded that whilst it remained at the .99p price, none of my UK compatriots considered buying the book, despite it being very little outlay for months of hard work by this author. It was only when I looked at the list the book was in that I realised.
#1As a free book, it routinely hit the #1 spot in its category, and even now rarely leaves the top-ten free books for several categories. When the book reverted to a priced book, it vanished from these lists, being shown as number 514,346th or there abouts. Clearly, at that rank, nobody but the saddest of late-night book browsers are going to find it so it WILL NOT SELL!
#1 best 'seller' in its category
VisibilityThe simple reason it gets downloaded when it is free is that it is visible on the top ten list of its category and people can see it and download it, but when priced it vanishes from view ( or to 1/2 million books back). It is not because nobody is willing to spend a meagre amount on your years of work, it is because they can't find it.
Moral
So the moral of this post is, keep your first book for free (look at how many people are downloading a book with my name on it - almost 1 per hour EVERY day, 24hrs per day) and keep on writing that second book because, even if you sell it for a price, those people that downloaded your free book are going to get to see your next one, because your first book will link to it, and because Amazon will make sure they do.
(Apologies for any bizarre layout in this post but either my computer is having a laugh, or Google blogger is)
My storyI have a short story called END OF THE ROAD, which I'd originally priced at 99c. It is part one of five, part two is due out soon. It sold a few copies a week, and it wasn't going to make me rich, so I decided to reduce the price to zero on Smashwords and eventually Amazon price-matched it. Downloads took off, hitting 155 in the first month. Since then, a steady month on month increase has been recorded (see graph).
Downloads for END OF THE ROAD in 2013Sales figuresJune was a blip, having been featured on a highly-followed website, but that helped with July's figures, pushing into high visibility on Amazon via its lists and other behind the scenes fumblings. August is showing strong sales and is already on target to surpass July, even though we are only halfway through the month.It's clear that the numbers are increasing month on month, despite the book suddenly being listed on Amazon.co.uk at its original price for a few days in August. This caused the UK downloads to stop dead, effecting my overall figures.
Immediate actionThe first thing I did was go to the book page on Amazon and click on the link "Tell us about a lower price", to notify them that the book is STILL free elsewhere (Smashwords is not sufficient, you must give a link to your book being sold on an online store such as Apple or Sony). Eventually, it will revert to free again.
Whilst I was waiting for the price to match I was astounded that whilst it remained at the .99p price, none of my UK compatriots considered buying the book, despite it being very little outlay for months of hard work by this author. It was only when I looked at the list the book was in that I realised.
#1As a free book, it routinely hit the #1 spot in its category, and even now rarely leaves the top-ten free books for several categories. When the book reverted to a priced book, it vanished from these lists, being shown as number 514,346th or there abouts. Clearly, at that rank, nobody but the saddest of late-night book browsers are going to find it so it WILL NOT SELL!
#1 best 'seller' in its categoryVisibilityThe simple reason it gets downloaded when it is free is that it is visible on the top ten list of its category and people can see it and download it, but when priced it vanishes from view ( or to 1/2 million books back). It is not because nobody is willing to spend a meagre amount on your years of work, it is because they can't find it.
Moral
So the moral of this post is, keep your first book for free (look at how many people are downloading a book with my name on it - almost 1 per hour EVERY day, 24hrs per day) and keep on writing that second book because, even if you sell it for a price, those people that downloaded your free book are going to get to see your next one, because your first book will link to it, and because Amazon will make sure they do.
(Apologies for any bizarre layout in this post but either my computer is having a laugh, or Google blogger is)
June 10, 2013
Is your book cover speaking your language?
Home-madeWhen I first entered the epub world as an author, I did so on a shoe-string. In fact, I'd promised myself not to spend anything on my book until I began making money. So I did the book-cover myself and it was - on the whole - well received. I had no training in book-cover design, nor the programs needed to knock one up. But after a month of trial and error and $12 (for the photo), I came up with this:
Original home-made coverDownloadsI liked it - it was, OK. I sold about 6 books per month. After six months of this I decided to give the book away. The downloads increased significantly - 7 copies per day for four months, on average. And then I decided to go pro.
ProThe real reason for finding an expert to do the cover was book two. I didn't have the patience to knock up the second cover, nor the skills to bring the pattern of book one across onto book two. The one thing I was worried about was the cost - as the first in the series this book was always going to be free.
Cover designer I found Jan Marshall on Twitter, and found her to be helpful and flexible regarding payments. We agreed to use the original background, and before long she sent me a file containing several possibilities. After discussing our options she sent me another file containing amendments. The result was this:
Professionally designed cover
Downloads increaseI uploaded the new cover in the final week of May 2013. Downloads increased immediately, averaging 20 per day (more than double the original quantity). Then on Sunday 9th May, something crazy happened. Over 220 downloads occurred. This continued into Monday, resulting in 600 downloads in the first 10 days of May (more than the preceding 3 months added together.)
ReasonI have possibly tracked this sudden surge to a website that promoted my book that day. It listed '5 good ebooks for free'. It has a following of over 100,000. I'm not sure the surge can be traced back to this posting but I have no other ideas at the moment. Whatever the reason for the surge in downloads, I am sure it is down to the new-look cover. With a doubling in downloads, I'm sure this cover has been picked up and promoted, which wouldn't have happened with the original, amateur version.
Book twoWith book two close to release, I can now sit back and get on with the writing whilst Jan focuses on designing the new cover, which I'm sure will look as good as the first one. In the meantime, here are the two covers side by side. Can you spot the amateur? Is yours easily identifiable as an amateur, or can it hold its own up there with the professionals? What do you think? I'd love to hear from you.
Original home-made coverDownloadsI liked it - it was, OK. I sold about 6 books per month. After six months of this I decided to give the book away. The downloads increased significantly - 7 copies per day for four months, on average. And then I decided to go pro.ProThe real reason for finding an expert to do the cover was book two. I didn't have the patience to knock up the second cover, nor the skills to bring the pattern of book one across onto book two. The one thing I was worried about was the cost - as the first in the series this book was always going to be free.
Cover designer I found Jan Marshall on Twitter, and found her to be helpful and flexible regarding payments. We agreed to use the original background, and before long she sent me a file containing several possibilities. After discussing our options she sent me another file containing amendments. The result was this:
Professionally designed coverDownloads increaseI uploaded the new cover in the final week of May 2013. Downloads increased immediately, averaging 20 per day (more than double the original quantity). Then on Sunday 9th May, something crazy happened. Over 220 downloads occurred. This continued into Monday, resulting in 600 downloads in the first 10 days of May (more than the preceding 3 months added together.)
ReasonI have possibly tracked this sudden surge to a website that promoted my book that day. It listed '5 good ebooks for free'. It has a following of over 100,000. I'm not sure the surge can be traced back to this posting but I have no other ideas at the moment. Whatever the reason for the surge in downloads, I am sure it is down to the new-look cover. With a doubling in downloads, I'm sure this cover has been picked up and promoted, which wouldn't have happened with the original, amateur version.
Book twoWith book two close to release, I can now sit back and get on with the writing whilst Jan focuses on designing the new cover, which I'm sure will look as good as the first one. In the meantime, here are the two covers side by side. Can you spot the amateur? Is yours easily identifiable as an amateur, or can it hold its own up there with the professionals? What do you think? I'd love to hear from you.
May 5, 2013
Neglected blog, aniversaries & the most beautiful village in France
6th May? Really? Bugger, it's been exactly 2 months since my last post! Call myself a writer?
The truth is work has burnt me out these last two months. End of term exams to set and mark, reports to write up and then a new academy/school to get ready. Writing, even that has taken a back seat of late.
Voted the Most Beautiful Village in France (for a reason)
The good news is my new book cover is almost ready. Professionally designed, it'll replace my humble effort on End of the Road. (No, I can't show you the cover just yet...) Whilst book 2 in The Rozzers series is complete I am taking a break from it (because I'm sick of it!!!). I will do one more rewrite later in the year and get it published.
My major task at the moment is importing a 50,000+ word #wip called Filthy into Scrivener. It's been fully imported and I'm busy editing it up to my current standards. (It was written several years ago when I thought that we used [ ' ] in place of speech marks [ " ].) With Scrivener, I should be able to get this baby finished.
My aim is to prep the thing for a month-long blast at finishing it. My wife is away for the month of August and whilst I have a few classes I expect the best part of each day to be spent working away on it. It's a challenge I am setting myself and only after this will I go back to The Rozzers.
Oh, and it has been exactly one year since I published End of the Road. Yikes, time to get a move on.
In the meantime, I found the most beautiful village in all of France. I'll have to go back there soon...
The truth is work has burnt me out these last two months. End of term exams to set and mark, reports to write up and then a new academy/school to get ready. Writing, even that has taken a back seat of late.
Voted the Most Beautiful Village in France (for a reason)The good news is my new book cover is almost ready. Professionally designed, it'll replace my humble effort on End of the Road. (No, I can't show you the cover just yet...) Whilst book 2 in The Rozzers series is complete I am taking a break from it (because I'm sick of it!!!). I will do one more rewrite later in the year and get it published.
My major task at the moment is importing a 50,000+ word #wip called Filthy into Scrivener. It's been fully imported and I'm busy editing it up to my current standards. (It was written several years ago when I thought that we used [ ' ] in place of speech marks [ " ].) With Scrivener, I should be able to get this baby finished.
My aim is to prep the thing for a month-long blast at finishing it. My wife is away for the month of August and whilst I have a few classes I expect the best part of each day to be spent working away on it. It's a challenge I am setting myself and only after this will I go back to The Rozzers.
Oh, and it has been exactly one year since I published End of the Road. Yikes, time to get a move on.
In the meantime, I found the most beautiful village in all of France. I'll have to go back there soon...
