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

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

Sorry to hear about the computer- I can sympathize. It's been going around. Our whole network went down and put us out of business for a week. It was horrible.

Thanks, Anita. You make me smile. Any book you write is a welcome addition.

That scares me, too.- I am reducing all my ad expenses and optimizing free resources right now.

I'm sure you'll get some sales from it, Alex- It's one of the only ways left to promote our books. I will still do those as long as the prices are kept low.- but things like NetGalley, sending books out to reviewers, even blog tours- may be off the table.

I may do a giveaway from my own mail chimp Maybe I'll do one each month-- If anyone is interested in participating- let me know and we'll do up something for the month of January- Whoever gets picked by a consumer (winner) can send an electronic copy of their book?

I couldn't agree with you more, Matt. It was s subtle shift. If you remember I wrote last year in Feb- something odd was going on at Amazon-
This was a viable business- we had a clear direction, with numbers projecting great profits.
It started with that page sharing thing. We noticed our Kindle income swindled. Then, with the books bin- or third-party sellers- the paperbacks tanked. They followed with an aggressive policy stamping out reviewers so that there can be little or no advancement.
The whole thing has to be reevaluated. One can still publish- I guess if you keep your expenses low, and perhaps follow the strategy where you have one free book and the rest people pay for- I guess it may provide some sort of income.
I plan on devoting my energies to building a blog audience, and followers. I think it is the only way left to promote. that is affordable. To invest any money in it at this time is the same thing as throwing it in the garbage. I never felt that way before.

"If Amazon carries on the way they are, Indies will just be indulging in a very costly hobby. And that's not what I set out to achieve. "

I have come to this conclusion as well. They've put up a concrete ceiling and I don't see a way through it. If you can keep costs low and be satisfied with just publishing, promoting in the new limited way and making vacation money- this is what I see as the future right now.

I have stopped publishing. However, I will continue to promote our books. We have too much invested to let it go.

I think the future is going to be getting your name on as many sites to make you visible. If you haven't already join places like Bookworks and Medium. Build a blog audience. I think Facebook may be done- as it is being watched. If you are friends- the bots on Amazon will eliminate reviews. In other words, if people follow you, like fans, you engage with them on Facebook, give them links to buy your books, the reviews will not go up.
I've been thinking Ted, that maybe some of the "winners" might have written reviews, but Amazon in their infinite wisdom has chosen not to allow them. Of course, they still could have written a review on Goodreads- but truth be told, while I have a lot of 'friends" on Goodreads, they are mostly people I don't know.

I also argued over my own reviews, challenging Amazon to look up the timelines of the conversations. No one asked me to write them, they didn't know I wrote them, and I bought all my books. I'm glad they decided to allow me some modicum of freedom of choice. I suppose if they were all paid for on the Vine program and I was a member- it would be okay.

Agree with you Ted-

Nope to everything. This is his least sold book- so it makes no sense. we put it under coming of age (it is), space (yes again) , sci fi ( yep), fantasy ( I wouldn't call it anything else), oh and YA .
Nope- When we do this-we never compare to traditional authors. I would think it's presumptuous. Anyway, the reviewers do that enough for us.

They have it under short stories- which was a category we never placed it in.

You won't have to- I think Amazon owns Paypal.

hahahha- should I hold up a tiny violin that their giveaways have fallen off?

So, now if your book gets too much traffic- it's no good. A note from our friends at Amazon- I guess the book stirred too much interest- might have made a sale and that's 'unacceptable'?


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Alexis wrote: "Carole wrote: "All great advice from everyone here- I think an editor is really a good investment, especially if English is not your first language.
You are creative enough to do the cover and peo..."

I did it the first time you mentioned it way back when I met you. hahahha. I just wasn't sure if Dutch was also...like a first language. You are brilliant, Alexis. I barely speak English. You should see what the editors have said about my grammar.

All great advice from everyone here- I think an editor is really a good investment, especially if English is not your first language.
You are creative enough to do the cover and people are here to help with anything else.

If you were writing it in Dutch, I'd say you could use the equivalent of Grammarly and feel secure with what you know and the program that you've got it right.

I'm here to help if you need it, though. (but I never get my own grammar correct either)

http://caroleproman.blogspot.com/2018...

Please SHARE!!! <3

You too!!

Welcome to the thread, Talena. I'm am so sorry about your son. Thoughts and prayers going your way.

lol

Anna Faversham wrote: "Carole wrote: "It feels like that's where we are going."

I wonder/worry about the world our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren (even if I haven't got all of those yet!) will live in. I s..."
I'm afraid they'll never know the difference. They'll live in the United Staes of Amazon.

lol- we lost computers at work this week- the entire company was down. It was brutal. Made me angry to think how dependent we are on technology.

Just wanted to wish everybody a happy and healthy New Year. Be warm, careful, and safe.

I loved the sixties. Everything felt new- like we were on the verge of something great.