Marie Silk’s Comments (group member since Jan 03, 2017)

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

Congrats, Alex! Looks great!!

Wow it's great that you have that many books! Not sure if you would be open to pre-designed covers, but that is how I got all of mine and they are quite affordable http://selfpubbookcovers.com/ . Also, no wait time :).

Well done, everyone!! The site looks spectacular :)

Genre: Historical Fiction, Suspense, Clean Romance
Book: Davenport House 4, Heiress Interrupted



More to the story is revealed in this fourth book to Davenport House. Nellie Whitmore is accustomed to life as a carefree heiress, but her claim to the family fortune is at risk because of a new heir. Nellie is sent to Britain to be married before word spreads of her changing circumstances. What begins as a luxurious voyage becomes a fight for survival when the ship is caught in the midst of the War, forever changing the people who live to tell about it.

Friendship is kept afloat by telegrams between London and Davenport House. Mary Davenport announces exciting news, and the servants prepare for more changes downstairs. Ethan is anxious to move to Philadelphia, but becomes overworked while the estate is in search of a new groundskeeper. Relationships become strained when the unthinkable shakes the foundation of the house, and the ladies are left to evaluate the risks of keeping secrets.

Marie Silk
Goodreads: Marie Silk
Website: http://www.mariesilk.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Marie-Silk/e/B...

Regular price: 2.99 and free to read on Kindle Unlimited

Thank you <3

I think Book Blast is trademarked because I remember there being issues when another GR group tried to use it.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Wow this all looks fantastic! And well done on the Forbes article Carole and Julie!! That must feel amazing :)

So if I understand this event correctly, we should guest post to the blog ??

Genre: Historical Fiction, Suspense
Book: Davenport House



Davenport House is the first book in a family saga following the wealthy Davenports and their servants in 1915 America.

Mary Davenport is a 22-year-old idealist who worries that the world in the Progressive Era is leaving her behind. She lives isolated in the Pennsylvania countryside with her affluent and secretive family. When her father dies suddenly, Mary becomes pained with grief and increasingly suspicious of those around her.

A humble servant girl has the chance of a lifetime to become a lady's companion. Costly dresses, exquisite rooms, and fine dinners are pleasant distractions from what is really happening in the house.

Marie Silk
Goodreads: Marie Silk
Website: http://www.mariesilk.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Marie-Silk/e/B...

Regular price: 2.99 and free to read on Kindle Unlimited

Thank you <3

Book Hippo and Book Angel :)

In case anyone is interested, this is about the ratio for reviews on my books (historical fiction):

Kindle free promotion: approx 1 Amazon review per 1K free downloads
Kindle unit sale: approx 1 Amazon review per 100 unit sales

I tend to get more reviews from a free Kindle promotion that is run with a paid feature on Choosy Bookworm and Kindle Book Review, both of which have separate review programs.

Also I see a fair number of reviews from Kindle Unlimited readers (I can tell the difference because they don't say "verified purchase" on them). I don't have anything that asks for a review in my book. The nice thing about getting a lot of downloads in a free promotion is that Amazon will actually email customers who download the books and ask them to rate and review it. Sometimes I will get 8 reviews in one day a couple weeks following a promo and I think it is because of this Amazon email.

Alex wrote: "For my genre, bookbub would cost me at least $1000, I'd either need a 100% guarantee of getting my money back or be in a position to spend that without worrying about losing it."

Did you look to promote a 99 cent book? The 99 cent promos are more expensive than the free promotions, I believe. For historical fiction or historical mystery it's $400-$500 for a free book. It's a big chuck of change either way!

re: Ask David

There are a few different ways you can use Ask David, but I would not recommend spending time/money on it unless you are offering a deal. I tried tweeting about my book at regular price and that just doesn't draw any response. If I tweet that my book is on sale for 99 cents or free, I get clicks. The other way to get response (if your book is on Select) is to say your book is free to read with Kindle Unlimited. If you are trying to get exposure for your book but it is not on a 99 cent sale, free, or KU deal, using Ask David will probably not amount to much.

The best way to tell if your book is getting any traffic from your Ask David tweets is to use a site like booklinker that tracks link clicks. Sometimes it is a matter of changing the wording so it has more appeal. This would be a good place for a tagline- the short, punchy line that entices readers to want to find out more. Like the famous Jaws tagline, "Don't go in the water."

Bookbub is the absolute best but it costs in the hundreds of $ for a one day promo and they reject 90% of author's submissions. Every author I've seen who has gotten a deal with Bookbub (not the same as an ad) has recouped their costs and more. It's just really hard to get a deal with them. My book has been turned down all of the 6 times I submitted over 6 months (you can only submit a deal once a month). But I know it will be worth it to keep trying if they do finally accept my book. Just be sure to have about $400-$500 set aside for their invoice once your book is approved.

Glad to help!! :)

Justin, I haven't run a Facebook ad although I have seen some nice results with a boosted Facebook post.

Welcome to the group, Nancy! I posted your giveaway to Facebook :). Good luck with all!

Wonderful! I'm not sure how my first book got there, but thank you to whoever made it happen!! <3

Got it posted, Alex! I set up this thread to send notifications to my email, so I can usually get promos posted the day of :) good luck with your freebie!

Got it posted, Dennis! The blurb sounds really interesting by the way!

Carole wrote: "She was probably asked by her publisher to write the article and they got it publishing in the HP. I've been asked by some of our big players to do exactly the same thing- from our point of view. K..."

Wow that's extremely interesting!

That's a good point, Carole. I guess I expected anything from Big 5 to sell millions or even tens of thousands of copies, but I'm learning that books that achieve these figures are the exception, not the rule, of trad publishing.

Anyone interested in ebook marketing tips? I am dedicating my next LIVE author hour on Facebook (taking place tomorrow, 2/19) to ebook marketing advice for authors, including my thoughts on ebook marketing sites, Amazon ads, Facebook ads, Kindle Select, countdowns and free promotions.

Please join me at 2pm EST for this event where everyone is encouraged to share their marketing success stories (or perhaps marketing pitfalls to avoid)! Hope to see you there <3

https://www.facebook.com/events/13719...