S.K. Nicholls's Blog, page 66
December 9, 2013
What’s the Weirdest Gift Item You Have Seen this Season?
Last year I bought all my gifts online. A huge number of companies sent me their gift catalogs this year. I look at some of this 
crap these ingenious inventions and wonder just how well they really sell.
Like this item:
The Hapi Fork. It promises to change the way you eat, with vibration and LED lights when you are eating too fast. It also uses Bluetooth to wirelessly upload your meal data to the free app on your phone. Maybe this is why I can’t lose weight. My fork isn’t talking to my phone. ($99.99)
There is also, on the same page, a Salad Zinger, a $26.00 bottle to mix your salad dressing in.
There’s the motorized Grill brush for $39.99. What ever happened to good old elbow grease?
You can own your very own Sand for just $19.99. Put it back in the jar and take it out and play with it when you are missing the beach this winter. (But it is special “magic” sand that conveniently sticks together and loosens as desired.)
I kind of like the cereal bowl idea that separates milk from the cereal, but $19.99, really? Why not just get out two regular bowls when you set your breakfast table?
There’s the electric PowerCup. A coffee cup with two outlets for DC to AC power inversion. Put it in your car in the cup holder space and then you’ll have two power outlets. You can take your blow dryer and dry your hair while you drive. I don’t know where you’ll put your coffee now.
If you really want to spend big, and are into high tech, there’s the Pocket Projector that will project up to a 100 inch image on your wall from the palm of your hand for just $429.99. These are sharp, 220 lumen, HD images! It connects via HDMI (whatever the hell that is) to most smartphones, tablets, computers, and more. I really need a 100” computer screen now, don’t I? I guess gamers could have fun with that.
What gadgets are on your wishlist this year? Have you made your wishlist?
Seen any weird gadgets?
Filed under: Humor Tagged: Christmas, gadgets, gifts, high tech, Humor, wishlist
Weekend Indie Warrior Ponders Exposure Issue: Do We Need a Representative Collective?
Day 2 of promo with EReader News Today and “Red Clay and Roses” woke up surprised at Amazon Bestsellers Rank #35, and by bedtime was at #66. The flag came down and Taps was heard throughout the land.
I went alligator hunting last night and slayed the toughest one I could find in the swamps of Florida. I skinned it and wrapped myself tight in its leathery thickness preparing for the possibility of reviews yet to come. I know with additional exposure, there are bound to be people with varying opinions about the work, possibly the author, and possibly personal political/religious opinions expressed due to the nature of the sensitive issues in the writing.
I will tell you how this went. A complicated pricing issue prevented me from reducing my price to 99 cents. I notified ENT to pull the ad, but they said they didn’t need too, they would post a disclaimer reminding people that the actual price might vary, and they did. So, at $2.99, it sold more books in 2 days than it had sold in the entire life of the book which was originally published in March of 2013.
My analytical mind wonders, why?
EXPOSURE
It is the only answer. Continued sell may depend on quality, but initial depends on exposure.
On day one, hours after the ad was up on ENT, I had only 2 sells. ENT sent me an email saying that they were about to post the ad to their Facebook page (which I did not even know they had). I went to their page and saw that they had 464,000 “Likes”. That is a huge audience, but nowhere near the size of Amazon’s. Sometimes big is too big. The price did not seem to make a difference, the audience did.
A friend did a promo yesterday that was less than successful and my analytical mind wanted to know, why?
I checked the site’s Facebook page, they have 258 “Likes”. Perhaps they will build a better audience over time and posting ads with them will become highly effective.
You have all heard me say before that I feel we Indies have set our pricing ceiling too low. We are our own worst enemy. I have lurked in reading rooms and forums to hear that most readers download cheap books and “deals” but don’t value them enough to read them. Knowing many readers who buy books priced at $8.00, I know that people will pay for what interests them. It is a matter of getting in front of the interested people. Search Engines on monster sites with 20 million books don’t help.
I went all over Amazon’s site yesterday with keywords and “Red Clay and Roses” was still impossible to search, even with improved rank, without at least two precisely matched keywords. Not all readers are going to know those precise keywords. It may help, if they do. For example, I have read Historical Fiction for years, but NEVER did I know to search by the century. Yet, that is a required keyword through the BISAC Subject Codes that Amazon uses in its search engine.
I don’t have any solutions. I wish that I did. There are quite a few associations and organizations attempting to tackle Indie issues; reputation, quality, recognition, and so on. I would like to see good literary work by Indies recognized and exposed. I don’t know if Independent platforms for Indies to promote their work are the answer. Again, that puts a boundary, draws a line between Indie published work and traditionally published work. I am not sure that is the answer either.
If there was a platform for increasing exposure of excellence in literary work, how would the bar be set for each genre?
Some readers prefer expressive poetic prose; other readers prefer the minimalist approach in writing; others like to see a nice balance. Much of that depends on the reader audience. Much depends on setting and time period. Some people focus on character development; others focus on action or plot. Reading is a subjective experience. Who will decide what is worthy for exposure as excellent?
How do you design a criteria? Do you set the bar at number of five star reviews (we all know there are many with nothing but 5 stars from family and friends, just go to GoodReads and you will see hundreds), overall rating, number of reviews in conjunction with ratings, # of copies sold, do you say maintains a four star rating over period of one year? Do you have a panel of experts/editors committed to reading and deciding what is worthy? (That would be a daunting task even for the devoted). Do you cover all genres or limit the platform to one specific genre? Do you use purely objective, empirical data, or do you permit subjective opinion? Do you create a high standard checklist that reviews all of the above?
If you were the coordinator of a selling platform of excellence, how would you approach this?
If such a collective were formed, to promote excellence would you apply, or does the distinction dissuade you?
Readers and Writers ring in here:
Filed under: Marketing Tagged: alligator skin, criteria, excellence, exposure, indie collective, marketing, opinion, promotions, quality, selling platform, subjective
Read Tuesday Pre-Sale Teaser for 12/10 Book Sale
A few of the Read Tuesday books have begun their sales early. Read Tuesday, a Black Friday type of event just for book lovers, is officially a one-day sale on Tuesday, December 10.
Many of the books will be on sale for just one day, December 10, but a few have begun early and will end on December 10.
S.K. Nicholls, author of…
Tomorrow is the day for book bargains. You may want to browse the catalog today. Some books are already listed at sale prices.
December 8, 2013
Sunday Synopsis
This has been a busy week for me even though I haven’t been blog busy. I have also been reading a lot.
I want to introduce you to a couple of people you may or may not know. First, I am reading a book by Patrick O’Bryon titled “Corridor of Darkness”. It is a 20th century Historical Fiction about 1930s pre-war Germany, and the coming of the Nazi era that will knock your socks off. There is everything in this book from the thrill of espionage and suspenseful duels to the enchantment of romance. I will be doing a full review later this week but I would like you to do something for me. Patrick is a self-published indie author who just released his book a few weeks ago.
Go to his site and read this post about his homesteading and animal adventure in Montana.
Go ahead, and do it! It even has pictures and humor. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
I’ll wait right here. The page will open in another window. It will only take a minute. I want to introduce you to his beautiful writing style, even if you choose not to read his whole book today. He is a wonderful, well-traveled author and I think you might like to get to know him.
A tiny taste of a marvelously expressive writing style, huh? Don’t you agree?
Also, if you are struggling with how to get exposure or market your books, you should get to know both Charles Yallowitz, creator of The Legends of Windemere series in fantasy, and Chris McMullen, who has written many books on a variety of subjects, but most significantly, has two books on self-publishing and much information on both publishing and marketing on his site. He is also responsible for organizing the Read Tuesday promo event that debuts December 10th. The knowledge, support, and helpful expertise of these two marketing gurus are powerful.
This morning I woke up to these figures on Amazon:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,573 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#35 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction > Historical
#97 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction
#100 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical
“Red Clay and Roses” moved up into Best Seller Rankings and entered two more categories by the hair of the teeth. I am so excited. I can’t say enough good things about Ereader News Today.
I still haven’t done my sensory deprivation chamber experience, but it is on my list, along with putting up Christmas lights, cleaning house, getting the tree up, having my annual pre-Christmas luncheon for my local girlfriends. There is a lot to keep me busy this week.
Filed under: Sunday Synopsis Tagged: Charles Yallowitz, Chris McMullen, Corridor of Darkness, Ereader News Today, marketing results, next week, Patrick O'Bryon, Sunday Synopsis, week in review
December 7, 2013
Ad Wrap Up Day #1 Ereader News Today
What a success!
It is now 12 midnight and the day is done. “Red Clay and Roses” moved from somewhere in the 200,000s to a place in the 3000s in one day. It also went from not even being listed in the Kindle ratings to being listed at # 44 in category!
· Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,218 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#44 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction > Historical
Having watched it sit pretty much in the same spot for months with all of my self-marketing efforts on Facebook and the blog it was thrilling to click and see how it has climbed in one day.
This is the first day that I have sold 65 books in one day. I had only sold 110 total since March 23rd until today.
My conclusion: Yes, Ereader News Today is highly effective!
Filed under: Marketing Tagged: Amazon, Ereader News Today, marketing, Red Clay and Roses, sellers rank
The Rule of 3s
That Part Where is live -- check it out!
A Christmas to Remember
Bargain Books on Ereader News Today
December 6, 2013
The Paperbook Collective
