ProWebWriter is Shifting Gears – Let’s Talk Writing for Kindle

And…Shift!

I know it’s a big surprise…shifting gears again. This site has gone through a lot of evolving, or devolving as it were, in our 4 years online. With some small successes on Kindle, I’ve decided that this is where I want to focus with ProWebWriter. After all, I can tell you about all the wonderful writing things out there and be an expert in none of them -OR- I can focus in where I’ve had success and become an expert. Right?

When I started ProWebWriter, I put a little bit of everything on the site. I had “experts” tell me, “Choose a niche, you’re all over the place.” Last year, I finally moved some content (including my most popular piece) off the site because it didn’t relate to writing last year. ProWebWriter has sat here virtually untouched save for a post or two. So, I’m back with a focal point that I’m actively working on and in. I’m here to share my experience, skills, and tips with you and create an authority on indie publishing.

Kindle and Me

I don’t even remember at this point when I realized that an average person like myself could publish books on Kindle. I think it was 2008-ish when the first generation came out. At that point, the device was 3 or 4 hundred dollars, and I had no hope of owning one. If you have read any of the archives here at PWW, you’ll find that I’m broke and if it’s not free, then there’s a good chance I’m not getting it. haha I get a new computer every 6 to 8 years. Life is tough out there for the starving artist who has poor financial planning skills. Well, that was more than I wanted to say…oh well.

So, I realized I could publish for Kindle…I believe I put out my first book in 2010 and it’s still on Amazon although it’s quite outdated. I updated it in 2012, and I don’t think I ever published the update. This is the life of a person with Attention Deficit Disorder. The true problem was that I was working full-time, and I have found in my life that this is often all I can handle. So, I would work, and write when the notion hit me. What ended up happening was that I worked 7 days a week. Only two of which were on and toward writing. Having to place it aside, and pick it up whenever I could made for sporadic focus and a lot of jumping around.

I have a total of 5 books currently on Amazon. No, I’m not rich yet, but I have learned quite a lot. I feel that right now is a great time to pick up the journey and to document it here at PWW. Why? Well, because…I’ll tell you in the next section.

Debuts

I am fresh from completing my first novel. This is my first attempt at fiction, and it has spawned many ideas for articles in the coming weeks and months. I am currently in the editing phase. This is a great time to document my journey as a writer because I have gained a lot of insight coming from a mostly non-fiction and poetry background. It’s difficult to even finish this paragraph without saying too much. Let me talk about my other books.

I’d Call It Moderate Success

Or, we could just say it’s enough success to tell me that I want to explore it more. It’s enough to motivate me. My first book was a “how to” book on creating websites with WordPress. Again, there’s stuff in the archives about it, and the book was actually a free giveaway here for a while, and will most likely be returning. I sold more than 100 copies of the book on Amazon and B&N for the Nook. That’s nowhere near huge, but I did not promote the book at all besides mentioning it here and there on Facebook, and here at PWW. It was enough to keep working at it.

About 6 months ago, I brainstormed and outlined several books when I still worked my full-time job. (More on this later.) I started writing, and I cranked out 3 of them in a relatively short period of time which surprised even me given that I was working and well, ADD. Two of the three were busts. They just weren’t quite there, I guess. Again, I didn’t promote the books at all except on Facebook. I only mentioned one of them here at PWW because I wasn’t keeping the site updated at the time. I’m still not doing a bang-up job on that. LOL

Anyway, one of the books has sold well in both the U.S. and the U.K. I had basically ignored it, but I knew it was selling because I was receiving payments every month. Not big ones by any means, but not too shabby. I didn’t write this particular book for profit anyway. I was quite surprised yesterday to find that it had sold nearly 200 copies. It came out February 5th of this year…so in 6 months, it’s done that well with little to no promotion.

I know, right!?! I need to start promoting my stuff!

April Fool’s

Something pretty exciting happened on April 1st of this year. I landed a work from home job building and managing a Social Media department for an established SEO company.  I should write a book about it! I have so many thoughts and feelings on what a positive impact this had on my life. I went from a job with a 30-minute daily commute, 3rd shift, 2nd shift, and just general misery to Monday through Friday first shift hours from my couch! It has been amazing.

Naturally, with all the new amounts of time, I have been able to write! Hence, finishing my debut novel which started in 2006 with a couple chapters hastily typed and saved until I began actively developing the idea and story in 2011. Now it’s 2014, and one week ago tomorrow, I finished the rough draft. I can’t even begin to express how awesome that felt.

I Just Remembered…

I’m a complete idiot today! I released portions of this story already here at PWW. I applied to make it a Kindle Serial, so that I could publish it and start getting paid before it was completely finished. When I was rejected for that program, I decided to release it right here on PWW. I had a few buyers, but nothing special. I now owe those people a free copy of the whole story because I became disinterested. It was 2 years before I completed the story.

Let’s See What Happens

Let’s see what happens. I’m really curious to know how a fiction book performs. Yes, I totally plan to promote this one! Are you thinking about publishing for Kindle? Have you published for Kindle? I’d love to hear from you. I’m open to communication as well as any and all opportunities. If you’d like to write a guest post here at PWW, that would be awesome. Contact me!

 

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