Carole’s Comments (group member since Oct 19, 2016)

Carole’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Thanks, Alex! I'm glad.

I find your grit and determination inspiring, Alex. I really do!

You say that, but I am so impressed with the variety of books you've produced and the leaps and bounds you've done marketing them. You've done a great job, Alex!

Looking forward to reading it Dale

I would love to be in the seat right next to you when we travel into space!!!

Loved hearing that Alex. It was a thoughtful one for me to write. I can’t wait to read what you think of the question

https://medium.com/@caroleproman/if-m...

maia@silverdaggertours.com

Silver Dagger Blog Tours are inexpensive and do a good job. She has no set price and works on what you can afford.

Wishing all those that served and their families a Happy Memorial Day. Thank you for your service.

Great news, Alex!!

Feel better Simi. I can't read in a car- but I always manage to read a lot on a plane. Have a good flight.

Stay safe!!!

Aw. thanks, my friend.

https://medium.com/@caroleproman/i-pu...

Thanks, Anna, I am ashamed to admit I cave in lots of times- like putting the books on KU or buying from 'zon cause it's just convenient. I do hate myself afterward.
But sometimes I wish things were similar and we lived int he fog of innocence like the last century.
Mud huts? Anna, you have lived a very interesting life, my friend!

I will. It's almost done. RL and I were talking about how much has changed even with Facebook- it's not the same anymore. Now I think everyone is using Snapchat to hawk their books.

They do stuff as your book reaches certain criteria- That's why I think our books are stuck at the current amount of reviews. Somehow the one stars, no matter how stupid they are- never are taken away.
Yes, his book Stillwell came out as a Kindle pick and stayed in the first three spots (1,2,3) in its genre for almost two years. When it started slipping, I was terrified and panicked every time it dropped. At one point he had four books all int he top 100 for years. I was doing the same with my pirate and cultural series but in paperback. Nobody likes to talk about what they are actually doing financially- but how can you judge who is doing it correctly if you don't talk about that success. Julie was running my social media and she had a knack for promotion with Facebook and that helped a lot. I was spending a lot because we were testing what made a difference. Of course, Michael didn't care about anything but his goal- and that was getting a movie deal- so I made that part of my priority. The books are still in decent numbers- they are back in KU- I can officially say we make more in KU. We have a bunch of producers circling- it's not a matter of if- rather a matter of when. It's been a long, slow slog that I had to regroup every time they ('zon) changed the rules. That's why I've been quiet- I'm working my butt off for my son, right now- his books are the priority. lol. Of course, I say that when I have two books coming out - one this month, a self-help with Dr. Hausman and a joke book a publisher actually paid me to write. I did those in my spare time.

Two and a half years ago, I had lunch with 'someone' who told me all the traditional publishers complained that they were going to pull their ads out of 'zon because they were pushing Indies. That was back in the day when we were making six figures with a quarter of the number of books. (True figures and true story). The bottom fell out a few weeks later and our numbers started a downward spiral. Not only that, reviews from reliable readers dried up. Where we were getting two to three reviews a week, we lost a huge number of them. Now when we get a review- somehow an older one drops off- preventing any of the books from reaching any type of milestone. It's a crappy thing to do to free enterprise that basically the 'zon created and nurtured. I should have seen it coming when they fired all the illustrators and started dropping all their service. Back in the old days (Do you hear the harmonica playing?) it was a pleasure to work with Createspace. It was as though they were supporting an entirely new 'uber' industry for books.

I agree with you 100 percent. I think they have a team watching over every penny and nobody can get ahead of the'zon.