Anita’s Comments (group member since Jul 12, 2017)

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

No, the dashboard has not changed. The amazon channel is still there. But it has a rider, that refers the author to another page.

Amazon: Distribution to Amazon is not automatic, even if you're opted in. Smashwords distributes ebooks to Amazon only by special request, and only for authors with proven track records at Smashwords. See http://smashwords.com/distribution for Amazon status and details on how to request consolidated distribution through Smashwords.

I used their advertising service for my ebooks but haven't for the paperback or hardback. I will give it a try.

For me, the best so far has been ENT. The results for the promo on Saturday were amazing. It pushed my book up to #1,979 in sales rankings.

I queried Smashwords on their distribution to Amazon and this is the response I received.

"Thanks for writing in.  We're not currently integrated with Amazon to mass-distribute books to them.  They have pushed back the estimation date of when distribution can begin several times, and we haven't received a new date from them.  You're welcome to publish with them directly in the meantime, of course. Simply opt out of distribution to them in your account (Dashboard > Channel Manager).

However, if any of your books have made $2,000 or more at Smashwords (so $2,000+ for one book, not all book sales combined), then you are eligible for our Amazon test. Since it is currently still a manual process, we must limit which books we can accept until Amazon opens full distribution."

Carole wrote: "I had to buy 20 of them - they never explained why- I've gotten about 100 in royalties from them- but I did hard covers with Ingram. Book Baby had better quality- Ingram will get your book into the..."

700, wow, that's great. I can't get any movement on paperback or hardback. So, far it is all ebook.

Alex wrote: "Amy wrote: "Or is it thousands by now?"

*blushes* do you really want me to type the number?

On a positive note connected to this, though still slightly annoying, Draft2Digital emailed me while I ..."

Hopefully, this will solve your problem.

I talked to IngramSpark (IS) this morning. According to the IS representative, the 12 month restriction is coming from Amazon.

If IS distributes a book to Kindle that has been sold in their system in the last 12 months, Kindle rejects it. Once the 12 months has expired, the book can be published.

Alex wrote: "I saw that Anita, here's my answer from that thread

I can put my book on Kindle, I just can't use the KDP platform to get it there; I had a dispute with someone I worked on a project with about 4 ..."

Alex, I am going to PM you. Have an idea. Don't want to tie up the thread.

Alex wrote: "R.L. wrote: "Just got the same email Alex. I’m super bummed. This whole year is just bumming me out"

I'm right there with you. I'm looking at Bookbaby as an alternative because Ingramspark doesn't..."

Yes, IngramSpark will distribute to Amazon. But here is the problem. *"If you have provided any e-books to Amazon for the Kindle in the past 12 months we will not be able to provide service to Kindle through the IngramSpark program."

I am going to call tomorrow and find out if this is permanent or only until the 12 months has elapsed.

I just asked this on another thread where you had posted, why can't you publish on Kindle?

Wow, they are great.

Kay wrote: "There's going to be an email going out soon with all the event info, but if you want a sneak preview, here's the calendar event page and Facebook event page ;)

http://kaymacleodbooks.com/iac2017/
..."

Wow, it looks great. Kudos to you.

Ben wrote: "Sooooo something good happened today, (insert shameless plug) my latest kids book was released on Amazon! The Day My Fart Followed Me to The Zoo!

https://www.amazon.com/Fart-Followed-...-..."

Congrats, and good luck. I saw that Carole gave you a five star.

My first blog tour and it sure got off to a great start. Books Chatter is the first stop and what an amazing site. Pictures were added to my interview to add highlights. One was Benedict Cumberbatch. Wow, if only that would happen-sigh, sigh.

http://bookschatter.blogspot.co.uk/20...

Well, I am on the far, far side, LOL. An interview question a while back asked what is my favorite electronic reader. I said I didn't have one.

Not sure this qualifies for a good happening, maybe more of an interesting happening. My small town has one huge downtown festival every year, and it was yesterday. Myself, and two other authors who live in the area setup a book signing. While we sold a lot of books, that is not what caught my attention. It was the dynamics of the buyers. It was the older segment of the crowd, 50 and up. The younger set either wasn’t interested or if they were wanted to know where to buy online.

I'd like to add mine: Mystic Circle Books & Designs, LLC. I also provide book formatting, and cover design services along with other promotional materials, bookmarks, business cards, bookplates etc.

www.anitadickason.com

My good happening for this month is my blog tour for Sentinels of the Night. It kicks off on Monday, October 30 and runs until November 10. It's something new, and I expect to have a lot of fun.

I dropped the price of the eBook to 99 cents. Will see if that jump-starts a few sales. I am also trying to push readers to my website with sale buttons that link to Kindle, B&N, and iBooks.

I'm in. What do you need?

I was fortunate on that one. I didn't have to make it public. It was a lesson learned on selecting sites to review a book. I have to agree, though, I have seen far too many negatives reviews from individuals who clearly are not a fan of the genre. Totally unfair to the author and they don't even seem to realize it, which is astounding. Anyway, that's my rant for the day.

Alex--I ran into that same issue a few weeks back. What should have been my first clue was the terminology, a critic.

Being an ex-cop, I am attuned to reading words. As an example, 'and versus or', can make a huge difference in criminal charges. This individual's comments, and I can't call it a review because it wasn't, made it clear he/she didn't like paranormal books and didn't know diddly squat about police procedures.

Carole wrote: "https://www.indieauthorsmonthly.com/r...

Love the cover, lol"

I can't imagine why---LOL