Lincoln Cole's Blog, page 24
December 6, 2016
Book Feature: Slave Queen
Today I will be featuring Slave Queen.
Special Agent Omar Zagouri’s latest case is his most dangerous—and his most personal yet. The discovery of secret sixteenth-century letters unveils a plot between the sultan Suleyman and his chief wife, Roxelane, to change the course of the Ottoman Empire. A descendent of Roxelane, Zagouri learns he has an enemy whose revenge has been centuries in the making.
Targeted by an antiquities collector who’s also descended from a chief rival for the ancient throne, Zagouri soon uncovers a modern-day conspiracy that threatens the lives of his family and the security of a nation.
To expose the plot, Zagouri must team up with Naim, the son of his nemesis, who heads an international black-market operation that may have ties to the killings. From ancient Constantinople to the present-day Middle East, Zagouri is on a collision course with history. Time is running out to solve a royal mystery and stop a ruthless killer—one who has Zagouri’s name on his hit list.
Heather B. Moore is a USA Today bestselling author of more than a dozen historical novels and thrillers, written under pen name H.B. Moore. She writes women's fiction, romance and inspirational non-fiction under Heather B. Moore. This can all be confusing, so her kids just call her Mom. Heather attended Cairo American College in Egypt, the Anglican School of Jerusalem in Israel, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Utah.
December 4, 2016
December 3, 2016
Kindle Scout Guide: Part 3 (Hot & Trending)
TLDR: generating real traffic for your book and not worrying about nominations is the way to go.
Hot and trending is based on an algorithm that is completely internal to amazon. We can, however, extrapolate how it works based on similar algorithms (for example, we know that reviews with more "like if helpful" clicks are worth more than comparable reviews that aren't liked)
Most likely it takes page views and nominations into account, as well as data over several days and sticky hot and trending hours (it's harder to knock a book off of hot and trending to get on than it is to stay on once you're up there). Most likely it takes page view to nomination ratios into account as well (if 50 people look at your book in a day and only 2 nominated, then it probably is a lot worse off than 15 people looking at your book and the same 2 nominating).
It also probably takes into account how many clicks come internal links from kindle scout compared to external (did you send a friend to the site by direct link, or did someone browse KS website and decide take a look) because that would give them analytics about how good your cover is. Most likely, a browse while not on hot and trending is worth more than a browse while it is trending, because if someone will just find your book from a list of 300 books and choose to click yours, that is worth more than someone skimming a list of 20 and picking yours.
Everything probably has some averaging weight to find an overall value, and it seems that the hot and trending list is a placeholder list that is randomized over pages (ie, your book might end up in slot 5 on the hot and trending list, and over the course of the day slot 5 spends equal time on pages 1-5 of hot and trending. If you jump onto the list and take slot 5 from another author, then the slot itself continues its trek through the page listings so that no single H&T book stays on page 1 the entire time). The list is definitely random, thereby obfuscating the process even further. Also, I would bet that TSOP "Time spent on page" matters quite a bit too. If people just click the link and nominate, then scout assumes that's a friend/fan nomination, whereas if someone spends 10 minutes or so on your page reading everything you wrote, and then they nominate, scout can say "this user read and liked the entry and voted" instead of "this user is just clicking to support the author".
Essentially, it's probably a fairly complicated algorithm, but all you need to know is getting eyeballs to your page is the important thing. They added in protections because in the first year of kindle scout people could just remove and reapply their own nomination over and over again to get on and stay on hot and trending (which is why there was a flurry of "ZOMG MY BOOK WAS HOT AND TRENDING THE ENTIRE TIME AND DIDN'T GET PICKED" blog and forum posts from people complaining (hence why a lot of blog posts are utterly useless about the early days of kindle scout). Now, my bet is that someone removing and reapplying a nomination multiple times is a negative for your book (to discourage cheating) or at least has a net neutral effect on your ranking.
In any case, the only thing you can control is traffic. Getting as many people to look at your page and read the content you've provided is what gets you noticed. Analytics are insanely powerful, so their algorithm could literally include almost anything, but the paltry details they give us access to make it impossible to accurately predict which analytics they care about.
December 2, 2016
Kindle Scout Guide: Part 2 (Resources)
During the campaign, you try to generate interest in your book. You get to see page views, hours spent in hot and trending, and where your outside views stack up against the views coming from kindle scout, as well as where your views are coming from (facebook, twitter, etc.)
On kindle scout, people just browse, so there isn't a lot you can do. Off it, however, you want to get eyes/nominations, so here are a couple of options:
Facebook begging (messages/groups)Twitter posting (you should schedule tweets in advance)Paid advertising facebook/twitter/google/goodreads (only if you really want to)Thunderclap (need 100 supporters)HeadTalker (need 25 supporters)Print out cards (you get your link a few days in advance...Rush ship and give to EVERYONE)FamilyFriendsEnemiesGoodReadsKBOARDS (highly recommended)Author Ad network (Not recommended at all)BooksButterfly (modestly recommended and a pretty good company anyway. You need to contact them directly as it is only a service you can get by special request)And then just do anything else you can think of, or do none of it. You don't need to advertise or post or troll to get support, and if your book is just that good it might get picked anyway. Some books have been picked with no real promo efforts, but on average you should at least do something.
Also! Remember it is a 30 day campaign. That's a month, 720 hours, and a HECK of a lot of time. You'll need to pace yourself, and don't stack a ton of nominations all in one day. Ask a few people every day and try not to get burnt out!
I analyze all of this in much greater depth in my kindle scout guide!
Kindle Scout
A resources page for authors building their own Kindle Scout campaign with compiled resources from Lincoln Cole's own campaign as well as other selected authors.
Book Feature: The Little White Christmas Lie
Today I will be featuring: The Little White Christmas Lie.
A Holiday Romance story that just came out at the end of October! Kristy is an award-winning novel who won a Kindle Scout contract!
Check out her book below and find out more about another amazing Kindle Scout author!
Description
Carson Trent doesn't know that the beautiful Millie Cruise who literally falls into his lap on the morning train is really Camille Harper, a rock star of the romance industry.
Millie doesn't know she is headed for Carson's grandmother's picture perfect inn in a quaint New England town.
Neither Carson or Millie know that their lives are about to spin out of control thanks to a patch of black ice, a cow, and a little white Christmas lie.
About the AuthorKristy lives in Southern Orange County with her husband, son, and her Schnauzer, Grendel. She studied English Literature at Brigham Young University and at BYU’s international center in London. She is an award winning and Amazon bestselling author.
December 1, 2016
Kindle Scout Guide: Part 1 (Introduction)
Kindle Scout is Reader Powered Publishing. Basically, that means people vote for books (for free with an amazon account) and then Amazon publishes the most popular books.
That's the theory. In practice, Amazon picks books they think they can sell, and the actual point of the campaign is to bring your book to their attention so your book can get looked at by a real person.
You need:
a never before published manuscript (50,000+ words)an awesome covera blurba taglinesupportersAmazon's contract
5 year term for ebook/audiobook/digital rights (revertable if underperforming)You maintain print rights (make your own print copy)50/50 split (instead of 70/30)Amazon has global rights (revertable if unused/underperforming)Amazon is not obligated to promote/edit (but they **do (for now!))Guaranteed 25,000 in ROYALTIES on THIS BOOK over the 5 years or rights can be reverted45 days consideration where you CANNOT try to sell your book elsewhere until they decline/accept itIf those sound attractive to you, all you need to do is go to:
And upload your book. After a few days it will go active, and then you'll have your 30-day campaign.
Kindle Scout
A resources page for authors building their own Kindle Scout campaign with compiled resources from Lincoln Cole's own campaign as well as other selected authors.
Fragment 1 - Power at all Costs
"Today, we change history."
"A little dramatic, aren't we?" Kate asked.
Aaron Coplin shrugged, running a hand through his curly blonde hair. He was tall with piercing blue eyes and chiseled features, thirty years old and wearing it well. Kate Finzer was diminutive with short wavy hair, black skin, and brown eyes. They had been friends for as long as either of them could remember.
"If this works, we'll reshape the global warming crises. Imagine how much things will change when carbon dioxide isn't increasing the greenhouse effect."
"We're a long way from fixing anything," Kate said. "We don't even know if this will work."
"It'll work," Aaron said. He looked at Kate and smiled. "It has to."
She wished she could share his enthusiasm. He was the lead geologist on the project and had picked the location: sandstone formations to enclose the liquid-gas hybrid CO2. It had taken months of digital scans to verify that this location would work and months further to install all of the turbines which the CO2 would power.
Kate worked with the engineering team to implement the design; they would push supercritical CO2 into the ground. They had run countless simulations, testing the pressure and temperature so that when they turned the system on it would work safely, but there were too many unknowns to be completely safe.
Millions of gallons of supercritical CO2 would be pumped into salt brine. The liquid would expand and drive turbines which would create heat and pressure: eventually it would be converted to energy. It wasn't a difficult process, but each step along the way was critical: a single misstep would spiral out of control.
Winter Solstice Giveaway! No Purchase Necessary on Amazon!
Enter to win a free copy of Winter Solstice through this Amazon Giveaway! The perfect stocking stuffer! There are three copies up for grab, and it's completely random WHO will win!
November 30, 2016
Winter Solstice is out now!
A collection of short stories from Kindle Press Authors
Check it out! The first anthology is live! If it isn't free yet, it should be soon!
Book Review: Judas and Jezabel: The tales of a New York Nanny
Today, I will be reviewing: Judas and Jezabel: The tales of a New York Nanny
ReviewIn the introduction for this book the author clearly states that this book is an extension of the author's views and opinions about society, and that is certainly reflected in the text itself. The writing is clean and focused, and the message about materialism and culture is clear and concise. I liked the nanny and the personable way in which she talks to the audience and explains the story, and I thought the two married people fighting about money rather than family were interesting as well.
There aren't any punches held back in this story, and it is right at the beginning of the story that the two start fighting and trying to divvy up the spoils of their marriage. They yell at each other, fight, and drag everyone into the middle of their falling out. The nanny just tries to protect Cindy, because she feels that no child should have to go through something this messy.
The story is interesting, if a little underdeveloped, and I give it 4-stars, because for the right audience it is great, but it could have been a little longer and played things out a little smoother. The cultural messages are heavy and some people might take offense, but in general the story is well-done.
About the Book
Judas and Jezabel: The Tales of a New York Nanny
By C. Y. Brown
This is a story about lust, greed, and betrayal. C.Y. Brown agreed to move from Brooklyn, New York to New Jersey with a wealthy young couple and their baby. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect the couple to use her and the baby as pawns for their own greed and self gratification.
A long and nasty divorce, involving multiple lawyers, psychologists, family secrets and continuous lies by the couple. The husband tries to hold on to his money and the wife tries to grasp as much of the money as she can. What lies ahead for Carol and a young innocent child, trapped in the psychological game of cat and mouse?
About the AuthorC.Y. Brown worked in law enforcement prior to coming to the United States. She studied Child Psychology, Early Child Care Development and Human Relations. Brown's experience in childcare has enabled her to work for lawyers, doctors, and celebrities. Her hobbies are cooking, reading, arts and craft , traveling and interior design. She currently resides in New York, USA.
Check it out on Online Book Club!
