Kindle Scout discussion
welcome and introductions
Craig Hart, here! My book Becoming Moon will be published by Kindle Press on June 30th. I'm jazzed to be a part of the group! I appreciate all ratings and reviews. I'm looking forward to getting involved here on Goodreads. The KP community is an awesome one!
Hey Craig - looking forward to reading your novel! It's one I voted for and have already received. Right now finishing Eddie & Sunny by the talented Stacey Cochran. One thing's for certain about the Kindle Scout program, it's a fantastic way to pick up some fabulous free reads.Katie, thanks for the kind note - glad my random blog musings are doing more than just hanging out somewhere on the cloud. Feel free to post a link to where people can nominate your novel here on the chat.
The wrote: "Hey Craig - looking forward to reading your novel! It's one I voted for and have already received. Right now finishing Eddie & Sunny by the talented Stacey Cochran. ..."Awesome! Thank you so much!
The wrote: "Katie, thanks for the kind note - glad my random blog musings are doing more than just hanging out somewhere on the cloud. Feel free to post a link to where people can nominate your novel here on the chat. "Thanks! Here it is :)
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/26FQ...
Hello! I'm new here. I've been interested in KS since March for my novel that is set to be completed at the end of this year. However, I wanted to introduce myself now, because KS asks that manuscripts be copyedited using CMOS, and I would love to work with those who need a professional copyedit.
I also wanted to know if there were any Facebook groups or social media pages for KS yet. I've been checking every few weeks but haven't seen anything.
You can learn more about Curiouser Editing at www.curiouserediting.com.
Nice to meet you all!
Just saw on Facebook that we have a Goodreads group. My book, Back To Us, just got selected a little over a week ago. I'm Esther Gayoba, but write under the pen name Teresa Roman. It's been a pleasure meeting everyone on facebook.
I started a Kindle Scout Network group on Facebook if anyone would like to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Kindl...
Shayla wrote: "I started a Kindle Scout Network group on Facebook if anyone would like to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Kindl..."Just joined, thanks for making the group! :)
Last day for my book on Kindle Scout. I'm nervous and excited about the possibilities! Does anyone have a guess as to how long before I find out if they've decided to publish me? I think the guidelines state a couple of weeks, but if anyone remembers how long it took for them to hear, I'd be grateful. Thanks! :)
Katie -- since you are ending on a weekend, I would expect it to be Tuesday, but it could be late Monday.Best of luck.
~ Jim
Amy and Jim, thanks very much for your specific answers! :)I'll be sleeping with my fingers crossed!
Great part is now you can relax Katie! The month of the campaign is so intensive, I'm sure you'll be thrilled to have it over. Wish you the best of luck!
Thanks, The, and that's true! Just hope that I did everything possible! :)
Hey, everyone. I'm Keith Deininger, writer and avid reader. I'm a big fan of horror and dark fantasy and my tastes run toward the literary. Happy to meet you all!This is me: www.KeithDeininger.com
Keith wrote: "Hey, everyone. I'm Keith Deininger, writer and avid reader. I'm a big fan of horror and dark fantasy and my tastes run toward the literary. Happy to meet you all!This is me: www.KeithDeininger.com"
Hey Keith! Welcome! I will check out your site. Here's mine: www.craigahart.com
Love the site Keith and your novel looks intriguing!Nominated it on www.kindlescout.com. Best of luck during your campaign -
The Behrg
Very nice, Craig!And I really appreciate it, Behrg! I stumbled upon a couple of your posts about Kindle Scout when I was doing my research. ;)
Nice to hear the occasional wanderer stumbles across the ol' blog! :)
Mod
Just wanted to pop in and say hi! My campaign just started for TV Apocalypse -- A thriller :) It went live so fast my head almost spun, lol. I thought it would take a week, but it was two days. The whole process has been smooth!https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/37ST...
Hello all. I'm a fellow author here. Unfortunately I think I found this wonderful forum too late. My book is in the last three days of its campaign. but if any of you have the time I would appreciate a look.https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/MDHU...
Hello! I'm Laurel and my Kindle Scout campaign started on Friday, for my novel The Standout. So far things seem good, but who knows? I can't tell what Amazon is looking for or how many books actually get picked. Do any of you know? I am keeping a blog about my Kindle Scout experience. Here is the fist post, if any of you are interested...
http://laurelosterkamp.blogspot.com/2...
Laurel wrote: "Hello! I'm Laurel and my Kindle Scout campaign started on Friday, for my novel The Standout. So far things seem good, but who knows? I can't tell what Amazon is looking for or how many books actual..."Good luck!
Hi Laurel and Kathleen. Best of luck with each of your campaigns; there will be times when it races and times when it crawls, but there's a whole lot of us who made it through and know how worthwhile it is.Watch FINDING NEMO and make like Dori:)
Jennifer wrote: "Hi Laurel and Kathleen. Best of luck with each of your campaigns; there will be times when it races and times when it crawls, but there's a whole lot of us who made it through and know how worthwhi..."Thanks, Jennifer! Did your book get chosen? Any advice for what works?
Yes, my book is Grave of Hummingbirds, and it got chosen in March. I was lucky enough to be H&T almost all the way through. What worked for me was reaching out to individuals and engaging personally, and I paced myself. I have quite a few connections on LinkedIn and of course, I used FB and Twitter. It was hard work. I was never sure when or whether I'd drop off the list, and none of us were entirely sure what the criteria were/are. Some people who were on the list all the way through didn't make it, and some who were hardly H&T did. Ultimately it's a blend of what the team at KS is looking for, the quality of the novel, and to some extent, bio and platform. That said, I don't really have a clue:). I do know that it helps to have fun with it--a maniacal grin works wonders on stress levels. Go for it.
Thanks for the advice Jennifer! I've read what you've said about the H&T a lot of other places. So how do you feel AFTER you were chosen? Was it worth it? Do you feel you got a boost from Amazon backing the book?
It's been an inspiring process, Kathleen. I've met a wonderful group of writers and the KS team is engaged, accessible and whole heartedly committed. My book ended up going a different route as it was picked up by one of the imprints, but I think I can speak for most of us when I say we've all benefited tremendously from this program, in expected and unforeseen ways.
Hi Laurel & Kathleen and good luck with your Kindle Scout campaigns. Kindle Press has selected 74 books in about 10 months. While being Hot and Trending (H&T) is the goal you are striving for, it is not the determining factor for selection. Some of the winners have been almost the entire 720 hours; others fewer than half that. Clearly the Kindle Press folks also have quality criteria in mind.~ Jim
Jim & Jennifer,Thanks for the info! Every time I've looked my book has been H&T, but it's been less than three days and who knows if I can maintain it. I'm hoping there ARE other criteria, and that Amazon is impressed by the quality too. I've published six full length novels and three novellas on Amazon, and marketing only gets more difficult. I'd love to find out if being published by Kindle Press helps in that department.
My name is TP Keane and my book, Dear Bob, The Adventures of Petunia Pottersfield is up on Kindle Scout. My campaign runs from Sep 13th to Oct 13th and even though it's off to a good start, I'm not sure I can keep up the momentum as everyone I know has already voted. How do you guys keep the votes up?
Hi TP, now begins the real push of your campaign ... spreading the word (without coming off as annoying), making personal touches to individuals who may be interested in your novel, etc. I found reaching out in person versus mass posts worked much more effectively in getting people to take action. Best of luck with your campaign -
Hello, everyone. I now have nine days left of my Kindle Scout campaign. I was in Hot & Trending off and on and then for over a week, but now I'm not. Trying not to obsess, but it's hard! Anyway, I'm keeping a blog - my "Kindle Scout Diary" in case any of you are interested. I'm sure we all experience some similar emotions!http://laurelosterkamp.blogspot.com/
After day 3 of my Kindle Scout campaign my stress levels hit an all time high. Around 2am and unable to sleep I cam across this forum. After reading some of the posts I gave up on my quest for ideas to keep Uncertain Origin on the hot and trending list and went to bed. Thanks for reminding me to ease up and enjoy the experience.https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2FVA...
Frank wrote: "After day 3 of my Kindle Scout campaign my stress levels hit an all time high. Around 2am and unable to sleep I cam across this forum. After reading some of the posts I gave up on my quest for idea..."Frank,
I completely understand! I often wake up in the middle of the night, wondering if I'm Hot & Trending. I even dream about it sometimes. It's madness! I'm glad I only have a few days left, but then comes the waiting, which will be even worse. I'll just self-publish The Standout if I don't get selected, so it's not life & death. It just feels like it sometimes.
Uncertain Origin looks great. Luckily I have more than one Amazon account, so I had room to nominate it.
Hello, all. I'm at the beginning of the process, and I'm already insane. My book ("Watching Amy") has been hot and trending pretty much from the start, but there are so many books in the program now. I've noticed that almost all of the hot and trending books are either at the beginning or at the end of their campaigns. I just don't see how anyone can keep it up for the entire month anymore. This is going to kill me.
I'm Dale Cozort, science fiction writer and currently a guy with a Kindle Scout campaign going (started today) for my novel Char. It's an alternate reality/police procedural of sorts. I think it's a lot of fun.The link is: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3TV8...
On the Scout process driving you insane: That's easy to have happen. I'm trying to keep the insanity to a dull roar by editing a novella and brainstorming for NaNo, restricting the Kindle Scout marketing somewhat and trying to spread out the hot and trending days. Not sure how well that will work out. In an earlier, failed Scout campaign with a different novel, I used up all my marketing ideas in the first five days, spent the next 18 days with 0 hours Hot and Trending, then finally got in a few good days toward the end. Hopefully I learned from the experience and can keep up the marketing so I keep getting noticed in the middle three weeks.
By the way, those last few posts may look a little weird because there are two Dales posting in a row.
Happy to find another place to discuss the program. I'm in my second week and it's been a lot of ups and downs for me. I'm so glad to hear that H&T isn't everything as I'm at around 20% right now. 21 more days of this stress! If anyone wants to check out my campaign here's the link:https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/C686...
Faezed & Confused
Dr. Wulf: Paranormal Psychologist
So far I'm at two hours out of the first 24 in Hot or Trending. Not the best of starts, but I notice that I'm in Hot or Trending this morning, so hopefully that will go up. I'm not obsessing or anything, am I? Just happened to be up at 6:45 this morning and just happened to refresh the page. LOL. At this rate, it's going to be a long month. The key is pacing yourself, I suspect. Actually doing that is harder than figuring out that its necessary.
Well I'm about half way through my campaign. I think the rest of my life is really suffering because of this. I'm starting to run out of ideas to advertise my book. Any suggestions?https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1ZYQ...
Nancy wrote: "Hi, I'm Nancy Raven Smith and my book, Land Sharks, is currently on Kindle Scout.(October 1-31) I'm here to glean any advice I can. Here's my question. If your kindle scout book isn't picked up by ..."I don't think so Nancy. My intention when I submitted my edited manuscript was 'if they don't pick it then I'll have to figure out what they didn't like, then fix, and then submit to publishers. When my book won I forgot that part of the plan, so I don't think so Nancy. (And good luck!)
Gee - I'm not even 24 hours in and I don't think I can maintain this level of adrenalin production for another 29 days... (needless to say I'm not a little chuffed to have been chosen in the first place: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1M4T...But on a more serious note I'd love to hear from the people whose books didn't get chosen but who have gone on to self publish on amazon - how is it going?
(and Good Reads - thank you for existing)
My book is "Watching Amy". It seems to be doing well, but really, nobody really knows how it all works. I'll be really happy in two weeks when this is all over. I don't think I ever want to put myself through this again.
Thanks a lot, Nancy. I see your book on the hot list quite a bit too. I put it in my saved list for later when my other nominations drop off.
Actually, nobody really knows how many nominations you need. Amazon doesn't even tell you how many you have. All you get is page views, which might or might not be a nomination. I think the hot and trending list is a better indication of how many people are nominating or saving your book. There was one author who had 5.5K page views, and she wasn't selected.
If what you're saying is true, Dale - and I don't mean to doubt your words, I just hadn't thought of it this way - if they're counting 'page views' rather than 'nominations', wouldn't that mean we should get our friends to keep going back to the page? Until now I assumed that 'page views' = 'number of nominations', and as you only get one vote it only made sense to look at the page once. Surely it can't be that easy to manipulate the system (even we all know that it's not only numbers that count).What do you think?
Kindle Scout
Books mentioned in this topic
Eddie & Sunny (other topics)Eddie & Sunny (other topics)
Housebroken (other topics)
G-1 (other topics)
Running From the Past (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
The Behrg (other topics)Stacey Cochran (other topics)
Stacey Cochran (other topics)
The Behrg (other topics)
James M. Jackson (other topics)
Also, I found your blog back when I was trying to find more info on Kindle Scout-- so thanks for that insightful post as well!