Do we have other ecofiction authors in this group?

[Clare]

I started writing up my tips on Amazon book advertising to share. My article got long, so I placed it on Medium.
If anyone has not used Medium, this is a free platform for writers, and non-members can view a number of free articles per month.

An amateur sleuth, a hacker and Venus walk into a bar: my ventures into Amazon book advertising.
If you’re an independent publisher thinking of advertising Kindle books on Amazon, here’s what I learned.

https://medium.com/@clareobeara/an-am...

[David]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, very interesting. I just started trying Amazon ads a few weeks ago, just experimenting so with a $5/day budget and UK market and ebook version only.

I started out with their automatic targeting option which gave me 100 displays/day but no clicks or sales in the course of about 2 weeks. So then I switched to specific keywords which got my book at the top of p1 search results for the right phrase, but very few displays (despite raising the bid to higher than they suggested). So I'm still trying out different phrases in a systematic way to see if I can find one which finds the right people.

Any comment on what percentage of displays were "clicked", and what percentage of clicks turned into sales?

[Clare]

Hi David,

From my experience I can only say that the UK market did not work for me, or would not be worthwhile using again unless I had more than one new book in a series.
Most of the Kindles are in the US and they've been buying ebooks for longer, so I would just advertise there in future.
If your book is absolutely specific to UK readers, like 50 walking routes around Britain, that might be your only option. If not, move over to US.
On the good side, no clicks means no cost. But empty clicks, which I did get, still cost money.
I also found that fewer people were clicking on ads in the UK than in the US compared to the number of impressions I was told the book got. Now, I never click on ads. Some people do. Maybe UK readers are less inclined to click on ads than US readers.
Or maybe the Pandemic caused more people to read by KU in the US due to their being Amazon Prime members, which isn't so much of a thing in UK yet. Amazon doesn't give us any information about the readers, that is the problem. That's their data which to them is money.

[David]

Thanks, that's helpful. My book was written with a UK audience in mind, but I could try the US too. At the moment I am still experimenting with different keywords, but it's a slow process since each time I change them it takes 3-4 days for the change to be approved and come live. Perhaps I should just try running 3-4 ads with different permutations simultaneously! But I am starting to feel that Amazon ads is not the magic bullet to appearing at the top of the search results that I'd hoped for :-)

[Mark]

Hi folks, my name is Mark Regan and recently I published my first book Starling’s Lifelines: on a boat filled with magic.
My daughter wanted me to start writing ten years ago but when I finally got around to it—plucked up courage—the plight of nature and our future dictated what I wrote. My Author page here is in pending so here is my Amazon author page:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mark-Regan/e...

My Bio covers how I became a writer. The Green influences are to be found about half way down.


Thanks, and good to know you are all doing this too.

M

[Clare]

David, I have long heard authors say you might as well set your money on fire as advertise anywhere, unless of course you are a giant publisher with a huge bestselling author to promote. Treat the ads as one factor in your overall plan and write the next book.
The people who make money from independent publishing tend to be those with forty books out, and from my experience of (now) fifteen I can say there is nearly always someone buying or reading something.
We don't just do it for the money.

[Clare]

Hi Mark, nice to have you join us.
I will check out your author page when it appears.

I'm glad you have been inspired to help protect the natural world.
If you see any thread which interests you, jump in; the search box on the top right can help find if we are already discussing something. Otherwise start a new thread.
Starling's Lifelines: On a Boat Filled with Magic


Very interesting! Love the cover.

[Mark]

Clare wrote: "I started writing up my tips on Amazon book advertising to share. My article got long, so I placed it on Medium.
If anyone has not used Medium, this is a free platform for writers, and non-members..."

Loved your article Clare and your sense of humour. I have read up about advertising, but for the future perhaps. It seems obvious that with only one horse in my stable and no rosettes to his name I’m not going to gleam much from trying now. I am encouraged by what you said about Kindle Unlimited. I see its main use as a proxy for a free giveaway but you still get a return. Having said that I haven’t had any reads from it yet. It was very interesting about the UK / US market response. And as you replied to David it’s not just the money. If I manage to entertain one person as much as I have myself I will be over the moon. I’ll probably advertise later because I am a sucker for maths, but no gambler though.

Mark

[Mark]

Clare wrote: "Hi Mark, nice to have you join us.
I will check out your author page when it appears.

I'm glad you have been inspired to help protect the natural world.
If you see any thread which interests yo..."

Thank you for the warm welcome Clare. That is my daughters hand on the cover. The only worry I have is that people who know will say, that's not a starling. In fact my manager bought the second copy and he said as much. The kingfisher is actually a character in his own right and the lady's right hand man, you might say.

[Clare]

I was taking it Starling was a character.

[Clare]

Mark, you definitely need more books, because when people read one book and love it, they want to read more by the author. If you don't have any more books they have nowhere to go. As I explained in the article, there is little crossover between genres (I write in four or five and read many more) so for now I would say write more on similar lines for a similar age group.

Don't even think about paid advertising yet, but do keep learning how it works so you won't make too many mistakes.

[Mark]

Clare wrote: "Mark, you definitely need more books, because when people read one book and love it, they want to read more by the author. If you don't have any more books they have nowhere to go. As I explained i..."

I started late late in life:-) but I have started a sequel. I promised my oldest sister. She will be close to eighty by the time I finish it. Now that is motivation.

[Clare]

Go for it! And don't try for perfect. Leave that for the third book.

[Mark]

Clare wrote: "Go for it! And don't try for perfect. Leave that for the third book."

Thanks Clare. I will just try to enjoy myself. I think the last one while writing the first draft, was the best five months I have ever had.

[Clare]

Ha! I know the feeling. Some people would not believe us.

[Verity]

Clare wrote: "Ha! I know the feeling. Some people would not believe us."

I believe you!

[LovisGeier]

Hi all! I'm new to this group and very excited to have found it! I am an aspiring author at this point, still in the WIP stage and nowhere near publishing but that's the dream! I am obsessed with ecofiction though and have started a YouTube channel called Ecofictology where I discuss my exploration of the genre, how it could be used as a science communication tool (I am also a scientist, currently doing my PhD) and I do ecofiction book reviews as well. I'm hoping to start doing some interviews soon so if anyone would like to be interviewed on my channel and promote their book , I'd love to chat to you!
link to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRrV...

[Clare]

Hi Lovis!
We are delighted you joined and hope you can have time to chat.

I post science articles quite often so that kind of material is welcome. And we have a thread for eco-fiction which might give you some ideas and contacts.
If you can recommend any books which you have read for the Group bookshelf, we have a thread for that too.

[LovisGeier]

thank you for the warm welcome Clare, and I will definitely check out those other threads!

[Clare]

We have a few major threads for anything relating to oceans, or plastic, or climate change, say. But otherwise if you want to post a story about turtles, just use the search box on the right of the page. If a thread comes up it might be good to keep all the turtle stories together.
Turtles would be in the Animals folder so check which folder would be the best fit for a new thread.

[Mark]

Hi Lovis
Welcome to the group. I am almost as new as you here. Eco-fiction is such a new genre, or perhaps it is only now coming into blossom. I am not convinced traditional publishing knows what to make of it. I self published a month ago. I wrote a fairly long ramble on how and why I wrote it—you can find it on my author page by clicking on my icon. What I don’t say is my day job is as an engineer. I read New Scientist and the online BBC News Science section to keep abreast of developments about the environment and ways to improve and protect it.
My book is quite peculiar.

Mark

[LovisGeier]

hi Mark! I've just gotten your book on my Kindle and am very keen to read it! my TBR list grows every day it's impossible to keep up; so much ecofiction to read!

[Mark]

LovisGeier wrote: "hi Mark! I've just gotten your book on my Kindle and am very keen to read it! my TBR list grows every day it's impossible to keep up; so much ecofiction to read!"
Wow, thank you Lovis! If all writers felt like we do, every new book would have some eco element to it. It is good to know it is growing. When you do get around to having a read it will be good to know the opinion of one who thinks about this a great deal lot. I will check out your videos when I am around WiFi. I just have limited mobile data on the boat.

[Mark]

LovisGeier wrote: "hi Mark! I've just gotten your book on my Kindle and am very keen to read it! my TBR list grows every day it's impossible to keep up; so much ecofiction to read!"

Hi Lovis I just remembered you downloaded Starling’s Lifelines. I wanted to say I have now had some reviews. A couple of people got in touch to say how much they loved it and thought it delivers its eco-message well. However, they both said I need an editor, a copy edit would do. I have already corrected the (your / you’re)'s that I and Pro Writer missed. Well, as and when, I am updating things, so if you reloaded your kindle now it should overwrite with the “you’re” corrections. I have started a squeal but I will get another non dyslexic pair of eyes on my first book. I hope you enjoy my peculiar story.
Mark

[Clare]

MS Word is pretty good at grammar checking. Speeds up work.

[LovisGeier]

thanks very much Mark! I'll be sure to reload the book !

[Mark]

Clare wrote: "MS Word is pretty good at grammar checking. Speeds up work."

Thanks Clare. My problem is I use linux and LibreOffice. The main two grammar checkers don't do linux offerings. So I have been uploading to the cloud to do sweeps, but it isn't something I recommend. I will give your suggestion a try on a work computer to see what results I get and go from there. I might have to bite the MS bullet. PS, Silk and Sins was a wonderful read. Exactly what I hoped it might be. I wish I had experienced horses growing up. Although, I know the difference between a bail of hay and a bail of straw (for non agricultural readers I just made a, how hard work is on a farm, reference).

[Clare]

I'm delighted with your review - many thanks!
And yes, I have hefted many's a bale of hay and straw.

[Mark]

Clare wrote: "I'm delighted with your review - many thanks!
And yes, I have hefted many's a bale of hay and straw."

Thanks for showing the life and explaining it. Farmhand was the hardest job I ever did as a student. I lasted three days then quit. I honestly though I would have a heartache. That could happen to a bookworm student not used to it and I wasn't.

[Clare]

You need to pace yourself.

[Clare]

Writing and Wellness provides some tips on protecting your eyes from computer and phone blue light - and macular degeneration. My added tip is to moisturise your eyelids to stop the eyes drying out and getting tired.

http://writingandwellness.com/2020/08...

[Clare]

https://www.writing.ie/tell-your-own-...

New ecofiction thriller - by an independently published Irish author. This article in Writing.ie tells of the work he carried out in research and writing. Peter introduced himself earlier but I have just found this interesting article about the background to the book.

ICEAPELAGO


Anyone who gets this kind of publicity, explaining their writing process particularly, please do share here. We can all learn from helping one another and sharing experiences.

[Clare]

I have just discovered above work for 99p on Kindle, obviously I grabbed it.
Peter - I keep typing icecapelago into Amazon, because I am thinking ice cap. You mean to imply an archipelago made of ice or in icy waters, but one way or another your book doesn't come up so you might want to be aware of this issue.

In general, folks, when choosing a title, I advise Googling the title and checking Amazon for any books already listed. Then as I have just shown, think how easy or otherwise it will be for people to search for the word. I have heard of authors choosing their pen-names based on ease of typing in searches.

[Peter]

Clare

Iceapelago (not icecapelago) is a new word.
In three months it now has multiple mentions in Google.
Hope you enjoy the read.
I am well through writing the sequel.

Best

Peter

[Clare]

As the word becomes more known for general use, the ease of finding your book will increase.
I can't be sure when I'll get to read it as I am finishing (the writing of) another book and preparing to return to college... soon.

[Clare]

Writing and Wellness hosts a great article on how sitting can give writers sciatica and what we can do to avoid it or recover from the condition.

http://writingandwellness.com/2020/09...

[Clare]

Here is a helpful page about using Zoom. We've seen a huge rise in videocalls over summer, and now I'm back to college they are just a fact of my life.

https://www.makeuseof.com/common-zoom...

This page told me how to update Zoom and just by showing me the options you can click around and look at, made it less strange.
Also, if you are a person who likes to use keyboard shortcuts, they are provided or you are told where to find a list of them on the Zoom program.

Most recently, I had to access a Word Doc which had the Zoom meeting link in it. I needed to use control and click to activate this link, instead of just a click, because it was on the Doc.
I get quite unhappy when a shared screen takes over and I lose my top and bottom bars. Then I'm supposed to open a Powerpoint presentation and give that. Well, I found it can be done but if I'd known in advance I'd have practised some way. So set up a Zoom call with your friend or other half and work through it first before you go into a more formal meeting.

Other programs are available; my college settled on Zoom because it uses less bandwidth.

Article from back in March on Zoom meetings.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/zoom-on...

[Hákon]

I can't perhaps call myself a writer of ecofiction. I've written stuff in all sorts of genres, mostly short stories, but only two of them deal with climate change. I'm trying to write a novel now that takes place some decades from now, in a world where climate change has become more visible, but I'm still not sure if I manage to finish it. Too early to tell. I'm interested in the subject, though.

[Clare]

Hi, a reminder that the Goodreads Choice Awards are under way again.
Please go and vote - and if the book you most enjoyed in a category is not listed, you can add it. Under picture books I added 111 Trees for instance. Do add works about nature, climate change and green living.
I don't believe an author can add their own work. But we ought to be reading one another's works.
The books need to have been published this year.

[Clare]

Some of my nominations:





I shall think about the other categories.

[Clare]

Added to Goodreads awards nominations.

[Clare]

Singularity Hub reminds us of what we probably already know - screen multitasking is bad for our memory and concentration.

" A new study, published in Nature, took a deep dive into media multitasking and found that it correlates with “tip of the tongue” syndrome. Those times when you know you remember something, but you can’t bring it to mind to tell others about it and you get frustrated? It gets worse when you’re simultaneously staring at two screens. The end result is that you’re less able to retrieve a memory—a word, a name, an answer to a quiz—or in more colloquial terms, you forget, at least in that moment.

I’m fine with not recalling angry tweets, but the implications are far wider. For kids currently relying on virtual schooling, for example, it’s easy to get distracted if they have to juggle multiple screens or multiple windows—one for a video lecture, the other a chat for Q & As."

https://singularityhub.com/2020/11/03...

The complicated version in Nature: I've copied a brief bit of summary. You have to subscribe to read the full article.

"Independent measures of trait-level attention lapsing mediated the relationship between neural assays of lapsing and memory performance, and between media multitasking and memory. Attention lapses partially account for why we remember or forget in the moment, and why some individuals remember better than others. Heavier media multitasking is associated with a propensity to have attention lapses and forget."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158....

[Clare]

Added to my GDR awards nominations.

[Clare]

And

[Ryan]

Hi Maia,

Thank you very much for creating this thread. I'm a debut children's picture book author, and today is the release date of my first book: Hedgey-A and the Honey Bees. It's about how pesticides are affecting bees, and is the first book in my new 'Time to Care' series.

The series will be exploring a range of environmental issues through anthropomorphism, and is targeted at 5-7 year olds. I've used rhyme and humour to try and make the book appealing to a younger audience.

I look forward to following the journey of fellow eco-fiction authors!

[Clare]

Hi Ryan,
Well done on reaching this stage of your writing journey!


Sweet cover and a great idea.

[Ryan]

Thank you very much Clare! I really appreciate your kind words.

[Clare]

Keep up the good work.

[Clare]

Author Carolyn Wilhelm draws my attention to a cli-fi story event. We can all enter, it's free, you keep the rights to your work. The work needs to have a positive ethos.
Fix.

https://grist.org/fix/climate-fiction...

[Hákon]

Thanks for pointing this out Clare. Looks interesting. I may try to come up with something to submit to this. :-)