Jim’s Comments (group member since Feb 12, 2014)

Jim’s comments from the Taming Amazon group.

No, I can't say I've heard of them. I looked at their website https://www.nybooks.com/ipl/ and viewed the PDF, The Independent Press. After checking out the Amazon rankings of several of the books they are advertising, I'm not very impressed. I have to think if they were a popular site, the sales of the books would show it.
Jim

Good luck, J. Be sure to let us know how it goes.

Great points Michele! Thanks for posting.

I have a question for everyone.
What strategies would you use if you had unlimited funds to promote your book/eBook?
Just forget about costs and try to imagine your "dream" promotion/marketing strategy.

Thanks,
Jim

Take a look at the free Smashwords Style Guide by Mark Coker:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52

Smashwords is a great way to get your eBook into different retailers like Barnes & Noble and you can make your book available to public libraries through them. I haven't seen a lot of sales from my book there, but they are working on a lot of different ways to change that. Plus, unlike Amazon, you have complete control of your book's price.

Thanks, Kim. I really appreciate your help.
Jonathan, great article, thanks for posting it.

I think Amazon realizes that we are just trying to increase sales, which in turn makes more money for them. As far as setting a book to perma free, I think they have to price-match to keep customers from going to other sites.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Angela, how did your Goodreads promotion go?

Hi Roger, the Indie Author News sounds interesting. Be sure to keep us informed on how it goes for you.

I know you’ve seen the tweets, people shouting at you to “READ MY BOOK!” it’s “ON SALE NOW!” I have to admit that I’m guilty of it myself, until I found there’s a better way to promote your eBook.

If you can get someone’s attention with an interesting blurb from your book, they might want to take a look to see what it’s about. I suggest looking through your story and picking out a dozen or so quotes and turn them into a “Tweet.”

Here are step-by-step instructions to tailor-make your tweets.

Using the hashtag, write the title of your book. I’m going to use my book as an example, so #InvasionOfPrivacy is 18 characters. (I hope this doesn't come across as promoting my book, but I wanted to use a real example.)

Then I’ll add the address to the book on Amazon.com, http://amazon.com/dp/B00EBATCTU. With the spaces, that’s 51 characters. You can use an URL shortner like bitly.com if you need to, but it’s been my experience that people are hesitant to click on a shortened link.

Identify a “tweetable” quote from the book. They should be short, insightful, provocative, or intriguing. My example is “Someone is watching you right now, as you sit at your computer.” Now our count is at 114. You should leave room for someone to add their username to re-tweet you.

I have a Word document where I’ve created 12 pre-made “tweets.” So, every day or two, I’ll visit Twitter, read a few profiles of followers or new contacts and tweet something interesting I find out about them. Then, after I’ve posted a few times, I’ll add one of my pre-made tweets about my book.

Be sure to mix it up a bit, so you’re not always self-promoting. If your quote is engaging enough, it doesn’t come across that you’re simply trying to promote your eBook, you’re offering something interesting.

How do you promote on Twitter? What is your favorite social media site to promote your book?

Thanks, I hope this helps and I look forward to hearing from you.

Jim

Great! I'm glad you were successful with getting your book perma-free. I have one of my books as free and promote it regularly with the websites and facebook groups that offer that service.

You should make sure to have a link at the end of your free book that goes to your other books, maybe even an excerpt forone of them. That's what I'm working on now.

Good luck!

Hi Kim,
If you type "murder" in the amazon search box, wait a second or so and you'll see choices pop up. For instance, "murder of crows, murder mystery, murder she wrote," is what I see. These are search terms that people use starting with "murder."

I don't think that by using the "long-tail keywords" that you are also listed in the "head keywords." The advantage of using the long-tail is that it's less competitive and usually more effective in bringing targeted marketing.
Here is a great post on Inc.com.
8 Ways to Find the Best Long Tail Keywords.

Hi J, I've sent the message to Amazon and had my wife and son do the same with their accounts.

One thing I noticed, the links work fine, but you have to actually go to the B&N link and copy it from the browser window to get the complete link.
Maybe this link would copy and paste better:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/employment-interview-with-a-vampire-j-bennett/1109247577?ean=2940033084906

Good luck!
Jim

Great post, J. Thanks for the information!
Jim

Congratulations!
I'm glad that I could help.

Sherry, I think you're talking about "tags" and you're right, those are gone. You enter keywords on your KDP Dashboard, right after your category choices.
https://kdp.amazon.com

Click on the book you want to edit and go to #3 "Target Your Book to Customers" to enter your keywords.

Here's what Amazon says about keywords:

"Search keywords help readers find your book when they search the Kindle Store. You may enter keywords or short phrases that describe your book and are relevant to its content. The best keywords are those that do not repeat words in the title, category, or description, as these are currently already used to help readers find your book."

You can choose 7 keywords. I suggest doing some research to determine what people that would like your book are using for search terms.

Cary, I was suggesting that after you have a higher ranking, you can get more customers if you're in a larger category. As long as you will still be on the first page of the results.

I hope this is clear, let me know if it isn't.
Jim

If you’re using KDP Select, you can determine when you want to have your book go free. If you’re not, it’s a little more difficult, but it can be done.

My suggestion is to use http://SmashWords.com. They offer a free service to list your book on their site and many others. If you follow the steps in their free guide, “Smashwords Style Guide,” you’ll be able to have your book listed on their “Premium” program and distribute it to major retailers like Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony, and more. Unlike Amazon, they allow you the option to have the book listed as free.

Here’s the key, once it’s been listed as free at the major sites and Amazon finds out about it, they will price-match it. Sometimes they find out about it without your help, but to be safe, you can let them know. The last line of the “Product Details,” asks, “Would you like to tell us about a lower price?” Yes, I would! Click on the link, choose “Website,” and type in the link to your free book on Barnes & Noble. It wouldn’t hurt to have a couple of your friends do this also.

Taming Amazon member, J. Bennett, suggested that we have a way for the group members to help authors that are trying to get Amazon to price-match a book. So, I'm waiting for the information for her book, or she might post it here herself.

If anyone wants to add their links to this topic, notify me, or add the information to a new post. Please, don't use this as a way to promote your book. Just give the links to Amazon and B&N.

Thanks,
Jim

Great! The trick is, once you're sales have increased you should find different keywords and categories that are more competitive, then you'll be visible to new readers.
Thanks for your post and good luck!