Inkshares Community discussion
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Let's get THE LIFE ENGINEERED to debut on an Amazon top 10 list!
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Cara, this is a great idea! I love how you are expanding the universe here beyond just getting books funded!
Cara wrote: "Here's what I'm thinking:Inkshares is on the verge of having its first big breakout hit. The success of one book will give them more freedom to get tables at more conventions to bring more eyes t..."
Hell yeah, will definitely do this with JF book on its release date
From my research for Shadow of the Owl, I've learned that the top ten lists are about burst orders funneled into a short amount of time. Once you get to bestseller rank once, your book gets that badge forever -- which is awesome. Because of this, I propose a slight addendum to Cara's idea. I think that we should definitely band together as a community to post reviews of TLE, but I'm thinking that we should also work on seeing if we can get a purchase drive going for the launch day of the title. If JF gives us advanced copies of the book to review, we can get those read and have our reviews ready for launch day. Then we all purchase on March 1st, posting our verified reviews on the same day, thereby giving them more weight with Amazon customers.
If we do this, the book will have a bevvy of strong reviews, all posted on launch day, and a nice spike in day one sales. That coupled with some effective paid promotion (I'm sure JF could get accepted into Bookbub, which averages about 2k sales for SF titles) then that gets the book pretty much guaranteed into the top ten (something you need between 1k and 4k daily sales to reach), if not bestseller.
I'm not sure exactly where I will be living in March, but I'm certainly down for trying an in person promotion. I'm much better at face-to-face promotion than I am online.
Amanda wrote: "From my research for Shadow of the Owl, I've learned that the top ten lists are about burst orders funneled into a short amount of time. Once you get to bestseller rank once, your book gets that ba..."We can totally do that as well, for those who have read it of course ;)
Honestly this is a very good Idea, lets push this hard !!!
Andre just let me know this was going on and huh... I'm humbled by what I'm reading. I've been looking for ways to get a good push before the launch of the book but since I'm terrible at asking for help with this kind of thing I was kind of at a loss about what to do and where to turn. Okay, that's not exactly true, I do have a few initiatives going on (that I can't talk about yaddy-yaddy-yadda) but nothing that sounds quite this cool.
I'm going to have to look at Bookbub. I'm not super familiar with that platform.
As for rankings, you guys are right on the money; as some of you know, my overarching philosophy when it comes to creative works is that the rising tide lifts all boats. Indeed, when a book from Inkshares does well, it's a boon to all other books on Inkshares. That being said, I didn't quite expect my book would ever be the focus of that statement.
Since I stand to super-benefit from this though, I might as well add some of what I know to the pool if it might help.
As per author Scott Sigler: Pre-orders count as day-one purchases. This means that any copy of TLE pre-ordered on Amazon before the date of release will count as a sale for that day. So the more pre-orders, the bigger the boom on day one.
Reviews are super important. Five star reviews are super important. I'm going to check with Inkshares if they don't mind me sending the book out to you guys for early reading and review. There are ways to optimize a review however:
- Make sure you have a solid profile on Amazon. That is to say, review some other works you've read so that the Amazon AI knows how best to match the book for recommendations.
- Read reviews and mark the ones you find useful. A five star review is awesome, a five star review that's been marked as useful by a few readers is even better.
This is a pretty good time to look at any of your friends that like SciFi to see if they are interested. The book is actually cheaper than 15$ right now which is awesome and that's the paperback edition. The digital is even cheaper. I love Cara's idea of giving away the extra copies to help promote our own work.
I'd love to see this become a tradition amongst us whenever a new book comes out!
Mod
I've been looking for ways to get a good push before the launch of the book but since I'm terrible at asking f..."
Yeah, JF, I just got tired of waiting for you to ask for help, hahaha!
There are a couple reasons why I wanted to make this a day-of-the-launch thing and not a pre-order thing - I have read various places that pre-orders on Amazon don't actually count all at once when the book is released, so I don't known which is right and I don't want to take the risk. Also, it will just be fun!
Amanda, a purchase drive for the launch day is exactly what I proposed! Glad we're on the same page with this. Yay!
I didn't recommend we do reviews that day because I didn't think there'd be a way for so many of us to read the book before the release, but if we can read even just a later draft of the manuscript it should give us a good idea of the nature of the book and we can post reviews on March 1st. So, whatever works!
I guess I need to leave some reviews on other books so I start to look legit, huh?
Cara wrote: "J-F wrote: "Andre just let me know this was going on and huh... I'm humbled by what I'm reading. I've been looking for ways to get a good push before the launch of the book but since I'm terrible..."
I just sent Inkshares a request to be able to send you guys digital copies of the book. I'll see what they say.
J-F wrote: "Cara wrote: "J-F wrote: "Andre just let me know this was going on and huh... I'm humbled by what I'm reading. I've been looking for ways to get a good push before the launch of the book but since..."
keeping finger crossed :)
I have been authorized to distribute digital galley copies of TLE to anyone who wants to review it on Amazon. If you want one, just email me at jfdubeau1976@gmail.com and I'll reply with the book.I'm going to assume a few of you are already takers.
Cheers,
I like the idea a lot, (and I'm in) but not for the "top-ten" thing. I actually think many of these "sub-lists" are a joke. It is a smart marketing ploy for Amazon, but it reminds me of Any Warhol's "in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes" quote.
This allows authors to claim dubious and misleading bragging rights that "I'm a top ten best-seller" - when the truth is that these sub categories are so numerous that a relatively small number of copies sold can achieve this status.
It's like the "everybody wins a trophy" movement that hit children's sports many years ago. As you can tell, I'm not a fan.
In the aggregate, it helps Amazon more than it does individual authors; and further, any authors that use this questionable and potentially misleading tactic to brag about their success lose some credibility in my eyes.
So if you sell 5,000 copies and hit some legitimate list, Brag Away!
But if you sell 80 copies (many of them to friends in a conspiracy to inflate the book's worth) and claim that it's a Huge coup because some obscure sub-category puts you in at number 5, then bragging about it is lame, imo.
I think Life Engineered will do great! And the distasteful sub category brag will NOT be necessary to pump it up!
But I do see much value in doing this for other reasons!
If everyone of us who buys a copy at Amazon follows that up with a "verified" and Honest review, that would be of great help to JF and I'm all for it. Then give THAT copy to a friend and ask them to read it AND review it on Amazon and Goodreads! Also ask them to pass it on - and on and on with the same review request!
In fact, because you don't know whose hands it might eventually fall into and what they will be told - write out the lend / review request on the inside cover! (add your email contact info so they can tell you that they loved it and reviewed it and passed it on!
I would love it if my own supporters did this for my book, but I think it works better if it is initiated by a third party, as Cara is doing here!
In the final analysis, who cares what my reason is, as long as I'm on board, right?
Count me in!
In summary:
1. Buy the book on Amazon
2. Post a verified review
3. Write the "plan" as a request in the inside cover
4. Pass your copy onto a friend and hope the Chain keeps moving.
If you have the cash, buy two or more copies and then you can start multiple chains! That is what I pledge to do!
I'll definitely be up to do a launch day Amazon order. I've been meaning to order The Life Engineered for a couple of months now, but keep getting distracted by still funding projects so this will actually work out perfectly for me.
Hi guys, Sorry for the radio silence. It's been a demanding couple of weeks, but huh... good news: the digital version is being released to backers of The Life Engineered today.
In fact, by the time some of you read this, you'll already have the email from Inkshares about how to get it.
This is pretty exciting and definitely a great step in the right directing to help get more ratings and reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
Thanks for you support guys and gals,
JF
I bought the digital version on Amazon today so that when I review it, it will show up as a verified review, which carries a little bit of extra weight. I should be able to finish reading it within a week or so and get the reviews out on Amazon and Goodreads.
Is there anywhere else in particular you'd like to see the review posted?
Mykl wrote: "I bought the digital version on Amazon today so that when I review it, it will show up as a verified review, which carries a little bit of extra weight. I should be able to finish reading it with..."
I wish I was smart enough to answer that with an in depth analysis of the best places to review books and all that, but apart from Goodreads and Amazon and perhaps Barnes & Nobles (they do reviews?) I really can't think of anything.
So huh... like it so far? Don't tell me!
JF
It appears Barnes & Noble does have user reviews for their books, so let's keep that in mind when we're spreading the good word.
Just bought it on Amazon as well (thank you for the good idea Mykl). Will read it over the next few days and say absolutely nothing until I'm finished to make it as awkward as possible in here! Congrats on your publication day, JF. (And thanks for the great podcast -- just discovered it last week and left an iTunes review as well.)
I am in. Also, I like it so far. A lot.Cara, you rock! In fact, all of you rock. I am happy to be part of this amazing group. Thanks for accepting me. :)
I pre-ordered it through Amazon, and J-F was more than kind to give me a digital copy which I was promptly hooked on by the first sentence. I'll probably finish it tonight because I need to know what happens next!I'm also going to order a secondary copy the day of release and will then donate that to my library, something I'm doing with every Inkshares book I back.
Where is the Like button for these posts?!
My Review on Amazon.co.uk from when i got this a month back on NetGalley http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3DC23... feel free to vote for the review ;-)
I wish I could 'like' some of these comments. :)
Mod
I just finished reading The Life Engineered....
AND IT'S SO GOOD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
I still need to post my review, but if you think you don't have time to help with this whole process, let me just ask: do you like joy? Are you interested in creative, layered world-building with immediate, solid characterization? DO YOU LIKE ROBOTS THAT MAKE HEROIC SACRIFICES? I cried at one point, and you all know I literally never cry*.
Give yourself a break from life and read this book. You won't be disappointed.
*lie
So glad Cara liked this book. I think she's representative of who I want my target audience to be for it. :)
A friend of mine made this: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TLEDi...
I'm humbled that people think that might be a necessary thing to have. Not convinced it is yet either.
Just a head's up for those interested in helping with the launch: Today is a good day to leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. If The Life Engineered get to between 50 and 70 reviews it can be a sort of game changer for visibility.
If my review is accepted, it looks like it will be Number 60!That shows the power of winning an Inkshares contest. Very few of Inkshares books are able to generate that number of reviews before or on opening day. So congrats on that!
When you post your review, they now let you link to any other Amazon product and I shamelessly linked it to my book:-)
Can't buy the book till next week, but left a review anyway since THIS BOOK SOUNDS SO EXCITING. Hope to see it make a bestseller list! Can't wait to read it. ^_^
Hey guys,I wanted to do a quick post-mortem of the past week regarding the efforts on this thread. Let's start with the obvious: Thank you so much Cara and everyone for putting in this effort. It's extremely flattering and humbling to see other authors come together like this to help push the success of my work.
For those keeping track; The Life Engineered didn't get into any top 10 lists. That's too bad but it's far from a tragedy. Getting into that kind of ranking, while not impossible, is very difficult for a first time author. TLE has cracked the top 10 in a few sub-categories before but that was on days where it was being distributed for free which makes a huge difference. That was also during it's first incarnation.
Speaking of TLE having had another incarnation, that little fact had an adverse effect on rankings. All the baggage and history of the first run carried over and weighed down ranks. That's not all bad by the way.
What we did accomplish:
The takeaway however shouldn't be what didn't work. Some very important stuff did happen because of your efforts (and will likely keep happening). Most of all, the book got a ton of reviews. It already had a head start from the previous version but we more than doubled that and pushed TLE above the 60 review mark. That's potentially huge. It can potentially recategorized TLE in the Amazon search engine and make it eligible for more visibility on the site.
The reason I'm pointing this out is important. The stated goal of this effort was the Top 10 thing. However, I don't want our 'failure' to reach that goal to keep us from doing the same thing for every other book put out by this group. That's why I'm pointing out what might have slow us down but more importantly how there are other benefits of doing this kind of effort.
Also, we've learned now. I have a much more solid idea what to expect from an Inkshares launch and I'm hoping we can apply this knowledge to all the other books that follow.
Again; thanks guys. Keep the reviews coming and I'll keep you updated on the continued impact of what you've accomplished.
This is why I love this community. We share and learn together.
Finally finished this and posted my review here and on Amazon =)https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yay!Read the review. It's fascinating. One of the weirdest part of working on this book at this stage has been how one person will compliment an aspect of the book and another will say that this was the part they didn't enjoy. The challenge as the creator is figuring out what to work on and what to leave alone in future work. What can be improved and what is just variations in people's taste.
I know exactly what you mean! And part of the challenge as an author when dealing with reviewers is seeing what is personal opinions and what is helpful criticism. Most of my review is personal opinions, by the way =)
I didn't like the part with the robots. Why can't everything be set in the mid-1920s?*runs and hides*
Christopher wrote: "I didn't like the part with the robots. Why can't everything be set in the mid-1920s?*runs and hides*"
Oooh, 1920 robots.... hmm *gets story idea* xD
Everything is seen at the very least through the prism of personal opinion and that's how I try to look at it. The moment a critic or reviewer claims to have an absolutely objective approach to what they do that's my signal to stop listening. It's the literary critic's equivalent to starting a conversation with "I'm not racist, but..."However, opinions are the currency of art and personal tastes are the markets we trade in. There's a lot of fun to be had trying to tweak and understand what made subject A enjoy a scene while subject B didn't. The alchemy of distilling how to make both enjoy it is the challenge.
Inkshares is on the verge of having its first big breakout hit. The success of one book will give them more freedom to get tables at more conventions to bring more eyes to the site, engage in more promotion to support us as a group, and gain more notoriety and respect within the industry that will help legitimize each of our books by association.
The success of one book really DOES help us all.
With that in mind, I've been thinking about what we could do for JF, since his is the next book coming out (that I'm familiar with, at least). It is getting really good reviews and has some amazing blurbs recommending it. I think it could be a hit.
Here's what I propose: as many of us authors as possible should order a copy of his book off of Amazon on the day of its release, March 1st. I'm not sure how many orders would be needed to hit one of the sub-category top 10 lists, but if it's listed in one of the smaller categories like, I don't know, post-apocalyptic (because all of humanity is dead?), a few dozen orders might push it into the top 10 for that day. That will be great news for the Amazon recommendation lists, visibility, etc. Plus it would be exciting to see another Inkshares book debut on a top 10 list!
I already bought TLE with credits on Inkshares, so I'm willing to pay $14.99 for it again because I'm also going to use it to promote MY book. I propose that whoever buys a copy from Amazon on the release day give the book away as a promotion for their own book campaign - and as for me, I'm going to do it only in-person, not online!
I realize that not everyone likes holding live events as much as I do, but hey! This could give you a reason to step outside your comfort zone! Giving it away in person adds a personal element, saves on shipping, and gives you a solid, immediate prize to offer to the people who attend your book reading/come by your table at a con/etc. It also might get you an order from someone who is iffy on crowdfunding a novel that won't come for at least a year, but would take a chance on it to get their hands on a free cool robot book.
The book has already been covered on io9 (!!!!) and Sword & Laser will be promoting it, too, so I really think a bunch of orders from other efforts will be pouring in on that day. Let's be part of it!
Is anyone with me?
(I totally understand if you can't afford to do this. No guilt-tripping!)