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Any authors in the KDP Select Program?
I've generally had reviews from giveaways - in fact, I believe I've had reviews from all the paperback giveaways I've done on GR (2 or 3).Anyway, I decided to post my debut novel's Kindle sales and borrow stats for 2012, if anyone's interested...(includes total Amazon UK/US ratings, too)
http://www.writers-and-publishers.com...
Lunacy is free until the 01/09/13.What would be nice would be a means to filter for KDP and KDP Select authors in their kindle shop. Something like "See books you can only get here!" Or "Great promotions from Amazon-exclusive independent authors!"
Copper_Wings wrote: "What would be nice would be a means to filter for KDP and KDP Select authors in their kindle shop. Something like "See books you can only get here!"No offense, but that's a horrible idea. Isn't that exactly what some people want Amazon to do with trad and indie books? To send indies to their own little ghetto section of their store? What's that saying about the road to hell...?
Debbie wrote: "@Cherie, if that's not an email already made public on your blog or website, usually a good idea to edit it out of your public comment and just message it to the one person you want to have."Thanks, Debbie. But because I'm a tango teacher in Buenos Aires with my Argentine partner, my email and phone number are all over the internet, so I don't have any concerns. And actually, gmail is great about deflecting spam.
Kevis wrote: "Copper_Wings wrote: "What would be nice would be a means to filter for KDP and KDP Select authors in their kindle shop. Something like "See books you can only get here!"No offense, but that's a ..."
^^;; The intent is to get or screentime for indies, for indies to be noticed.
Copper_Wings wrote: "^^;; The intent is to get or screentime for indies, for indies to be noticed."Understood. But I don't think indie authors are having problems getting screen time. The problem is there are only so many books that can be shoved in front of a reader at a given time. It's the sheer number of books being published every day that's causing all the mayhem. If rumors are correct that 50,000 new books are published every month at Amazon, something's gotta give.
So the real question is how does an author go about getting their book in front of the line when there's a tidal wave of books fighting for the same spot? Do we really need yet another list of books at Amazon to make the difference? Or do we perhaps need more readers?
I think authors need to be willing to experiment to get noticed. If everybody is using KDP, perhaps authors need to try something different.
Kevin wrote: "I think authors need to be willing to experiment to get noticed. If everybody is using KDP, perhaps authors need to try something different."+1
Yeah Kevin!If anything comes to mind please share - after you get first crack at it, of course.
I promise I'll do the same.
Karen wrote: " ...It was three stars, which wasn't bad..."Just keep in mind that at amazon a 3-star review means it was okay; at goodreads 2-star means okay. The 3-star review at goodreads means they liked the book, the equivalent of a 4-star amazon review.
Assuming reviewer uses the goodreads suggested scale that shows when they click stars. I know reviewers where you have to read their whole profile to figure out what their stars mean. And others with 1-star reviews that absolutely rave about the book as the best ever written because to them "1" = first place, best, A#1, 1st/top grade vs. ...
With sufficient data, the ratings details and average stats eventually get more useful. But I know a giveaway author on their first book who got a wonderful review attached to a 1-star rating; even then, usually not a good idea to comment on a reader's review ( unless they asked a direct question like," what's the release date?" or "what is the title of the sequel." type of question you can just give a direct answer to) - at best you start the whole "trying to censor my review" endlessly looping flame thread.
Steven wrote: "Yeah Kevin!If anything comes to mind please share - after you get first crack at it, of course.
I promise I'll do the same."
I'm happy to share my experiment, but since it's still in progress, I don't know what the outcome will be.
Around July 2012, I published a short story (Dead Doughboy Walking) on the major websites for free. It was professionally edited by Arlene Prunkl and has a professional cover created by Steven Novak, both of whom I highly recommend. (Steven Novak is on Goodreads if you want to chat with him.)
I haven't advertised my short story much at all; I've just let it percolate on the web with people coming across it however they do. My hope is that my writing will be my advertising so that when I release my novel (later this year), everyone who has downloaded my short story will eventually get notifications via the vendor that a new book similar to what they've already purchased (same author, same genre, etc.) has been released.
Again, I don't know if it will work, but the downloads of my short story have been steady (and as of this morning, it was still on Amazon's top 100 free Paranormal downloads list) and the reviews have been mostly positive.
So that's my experiment in a nutshell. Unfortunately, I won't know if it worked for a year or two.
Kevis wrote: "Copper_Wings wrote: "^^;; The intent is to get or screentime for indies, for indies to be noticed."Understood. But I don't think indie authors are having problems getting screen time. The problem..."
Copper_Wings wrote: "Kevis wrote: "Copper_Wings wrote: "What would be nice would be a means to filter for KDP and KDP Select authors in their kindle shop. Something like "See books you can only get here!"
No offense,..."
The tidal wave of books keeps coming, and I don't think we're going to get anywhere near the numbers of readers for them. I have a feeling that people's eyes glaze over when they receive yet another email filled with freebies for them to look at. Thousands of books are downloaded that aren't read. I don't see a real solution for this other than to just plug away.
Marian wrote: "The tidal wave of books keeps coming, and I don't think we're going to get anywhere near the numbers of readers for them. I have a feeling that people's eyes glaze over when they receive yet another email filled with freebies for them to look at. Thousands of books are downloaded that aren't read. I don't see a real solution for this other than to just plug away."Absolutely. If this really is a marathon and not a sprint as has been described by wiser heads than myself, then the spoils will go to the last man or woman standing. So I'm betting the authors who keep their heads down and keep plugging away through the tumultuous and unpredictable changes of this industry, and in spite of the effectiveness or lack thereof of KDP Select, are the ones who'll get the prize in the end. Sadly, it won't be a painless journey and there'll lots of shattered dreams along the way.
All sadly true. But, we are painters with words, and story telling is an ancient craft that is its own joy. I suppose, if we are in it for the long term, we had best tell eternal stories.The story tellers of old will have lived from hand to mouth no doubt - yet here I sit, out of the cold, by a Toshiba, not an ink blot to be seen (though I do have a new fountain pen to help me feel like a proper writer).
The problem is there are so many Freebies that customers are not willing to spend money when they think they can get it for free. The Freebie promo's devalue all our work as authors. You should really only be giving Freebies to those that will read and honestly review your work. In my experience I do a freebie and I get 5000 downloads into peoples hands. I get no reviews and if i'm lucky 1 or 2 sales. Also I have noticed that if I get on average 4 to 6 reviews for my book my sales jump considerably. I use amazon top reviewers to figure out who to solicit my book to. Since it makes it really easy to see who particularly reads what types of books. I'm finding this is a better use of my time than giving away books hoping that it will result in sales. On the other side of the coin. when someone buys your book or gets it free on amazon they can lend it to anyone for up to 2 weeks I believe. That results in zero royalties. and almost always zero sales.
I just finished my free days and gathered my results, findings, and thoughts on the KDP Select program. I hope it helps some other authors figure out whether it's right for them or not :)http://blog.georgethefox.com/2013/01/...
Marc wrote: "Cherie wrote: "It would be great if we could target the freebies to people interested in that genre, and who have some experience reading about it. "I happen to have a very extensive number of li..."
Marc,
I would like to have your lists. I promise I won't send out form emails. My novels are genre specific so it's pointless to do that. My email address is:
marian@mariandschwartz
Looks like forgotten fox did really well. Well done Lena.
Ardin wrote: "Looks like forgotten fox did really well. Well done Lena."Thanks Ardin! Yeah, I'm really happy about the results :D more sales and reviews rolling in too!
Lena wrote: "I just finished my free days and gathered my results, findings, and thoughts on the KDP Select program. I hope it helps some other authors figure out whether it's right for them or not :)http://b..."
Marc I would be interested too. I don't send out form letter emails either. send me a message and i will get you my Email addy...
I agree with what Stephen said about Freebies. I think I will also try to look to amazon's 'top reviewers'.Tell me Stephen, how do you go about doing that soliciting? I am assuming that you send a request for a review to that reviewer. Do you get a good response?
Also do you think reviews effect purchasing very much? As compared to the product description and excerps?
What are people's opinions on $2.99 versus $0.99. I had my book at $2.99 in December and made about 50 sales.
I dropped it to $0.99 this month to see what a difference it would make, and so far I think I was better off at the higher price. Only made about 15 sales so far this month.
Ardin wrote: "What are people's opinions on $2.99 versus $0.99. I had my book at $2.99 in December and made about 50 sales.
I dropped it to $0.99 this month to see what a difference it would make, and so far ..."
Thank you for sharing. Your results are eye-opening!
Ardin wrote: "What are people's opinions on $2.99 versus $0.99. I had my book at $2.99 in December and made about 50 sales.
I dropped it to $0.99 this month to see what a difference it would make, and so far ..."
Mark Cocker from Smashwords did a study once on best pricing and found that the best prices were between 2.99 and 5.99 (or somewhere within that range). I lost the email, but you might be able to find the study on his blog. He found that $0.99 was not a good price.
I think I'm finding the same thing Omar. It doesn't look like 0.99 is worth it at all.
What little I have read on the subject suggests that there is little change in demand at $0.99 versus $2.99. The obvious idea is that people will be more willing to pay the former than the latter, as $0.99 is in impulse-purchase territory. But this only holds true for a known product for which there is demand in the first place. If that is not the case, then the book's competition will be the many freebies out there, and there's no way to compete via price with those (unless one is paying people to read one's work).One method I've read about from successful authors (and this only works if one has a body of work, like a series) is to use Amazon's price-matching to make a book (like the first in a series) free, charging for the rest. This is not like the five-day promo from KDP Select, it means that the book will be listed as free all of the time. If readers download that one, and like it, the idea then is that they will be more likely to purchase other books by the same author.
Omar wrote: "Mark Cocker from Smashwords did a study once on best pricing and found that the best prices were between 2.99 and 5.99 (or somewhere within that range). I lost the email, but you might be able to find the study on his blog. He found that $0.99 was not a good price."Do you know what he meant by "best prices"? Best in terms of number of sales? Net profit for the author?
Steven wrote: "Tell me Stephen, how do you go about doing that soliciting? I am assuming that you send a request for a review to that reviewer. Do you get a good response?Also do you think reviews effect purchasing very much? As compared to the product description and excerpts? ..."
I just send a request to the Reviewer I wish to ask. I provide a little synopsis of my book. (what it is about and such over and above what is on the amazon page). I request the review and I try to form it so it doesn't read like a form email. You want to choose reviewers that review the type of book you have written. My response has been favorable. But keep in mind they often have a back log so it can take weeks or months to get the review. I also form my request and state clearly that I want an honest critique and that I don't expect a 5 star review.
I have noticed a uptick in sales because of this practice, Keep in mind that these top reviewers have a large following and that generates your sales.
Ardin wrote: "What are people's opinions on $2.99 versus $0.99. I had my book at $2.99 in December and made about 50 sales.
I dropped it to $0.99 this month to see what a difference it would make, and so far ..."
I find people often associate price with quality. A 2.99 book being better than a 0.99 cent book and so on. That being said I don't think dropping a price is a good sales technique because if you look at Amazon and Barnes and Noble when you search Free books it will list books from 2.99 and less in the search results. It looks like this is a default and not anything that can be changed by the searcher.
I think you guys are right. I'll consider my $0.99 experiment a failure and put the price back at $2.99. It made about the same sales at that price anyway.
Stephen wrote: "Steven wrote: "Tell me Stephen, how do you go about doing that soliciting? I am assuming that you send a request for a review to that reviewer. Do you get a good response?Also do you think review..."
Thanks Stephen. Great information - great strategy.
Kevin wrote: "Omar wrote: "Mark Cocker from Smashwords did a study once on best pricing and found that the best prices were between 2.99 and 5.99 (or somewhere within that range). I lost the email, but you might..."Best in terms of net profit for the author.
I've never done KDP Select because it sales-blocks my regular output. I usually publish to Lightning Source worldwide, then Amazon; but, with KDP S the big A wants a 90 day lock off exclusive.That bothers me, thus I haven't done it. Had mentally outlined a possible short story just for them, to role out worldwide sellers at LS; but haven't as yet.
Neale wrote: "I've never done KDP Select because it sales-blocks my regular output. I usually publish to Lightning Source worldwide, then Amazon; but, with KDP S the big A wants a 90 day lock off exclusive.Tha..."
Isn't Lightning Source POD? The KDP 90 day lock is only on the digital ebook edition. You are free to sell the print editions during that time.
Omar wrote: "Neale wrote: "I've never done KDP Select because it sales-blocks my regular output. I usually publish to Lightning Source worldwide, then Amazon; but, with KDP S the big A wants a 90 day lock off e..."Lightning Source does ebooks, too: PDF, EPUB, Palm, used to do MS, too. They have print and ebook locations: US, UK, Australia and growing. All directly into most book and ebook companies, Amazon used to accept my ebooks from LS until they bought Mobipocket and kicked us out. We had to reapply into Mobi which they migrated into KDP.
OK had a few people ask me how I do my reviewer selection on amazon. I am going to start a new discussion about it look for it soon.
Stephen wrote: "Ardin wrote: "What are people's opinions on $2.99 versus $0.99. I had my book at $2.99 in December and made about 50 sales.
I dropped it to $0.99 this month to see what a difference it would mak..."When I was doing my silk painting business and the sales weren't going well, I upped my prices and voila! much better sales...
When I raised my ebook from .99 to $2.99 sales dropped to nothing for about a week but I think that was tied to the 'December slump' you hear about. Then went back to normal. Then the pre-Christmas/ post-Christmas dry up happened. But, now things are back to the normal, if slow, showings.I've heard a lot of mention that people think a .99 cent book can't be a good one - so a $2.99 is just better. I'm about to believe some truth in that. If sales continue. I've sold more at the $2.99 price over all.
Hi everyone! Thanks for all the interesting posts :) Just thought I'd give you my experience... my first ebook is currently on a one day free promotion and in less than 24 hours I have over 300 downloads (previously I didn't have any!), so for me it seems to be working. I just hope this translates into sales afterwards :)If you're interested in reading it, it's still available for another 4 hours for free: http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Making...
I'm in the process of lowering the price on all my KDP books. I'm not going as far as .99 yet. We'll see if sales improve at the reduced prices.
I feel so much better making a sale at $2.99 than I do at 0.99. There's a decent commission at 2.99 first of all. I also feel that the person who bought the book actually made a conscious decision that it sounded interesting and worth reading. At 99 cents I'm never that excited about a sale. I get pennies. And the person who bought it might just have been looking for a bargain.
My 5-day promo on KDP yielded 1500+ downloads. The second book in The Owl Wrangler series Guardians of the Sacred Seven has been downloaded only once so far. But my book is over 375 pages in print so I expect it might take awhile for people to get hooked and want the next one... I hope.
Ardin wrote: "I feel so much better making a sale at $2.99 than I do at 0.99. There's a decent commission at 2.99 first of all. I also feel that the person who bought the book actually made a conscious decision ..."I agree. Your reasoning makes perfect sense.
William wrote: "My 5-day promo on KDP yielded 1500+ downloads. The second book in The Owl Wrangler series Guardians of the Sacred Seven has been downloaded only once so far. But my book is over 375 pages in print ..."Oh that is pretty good. I hope it translates to sales and nice reviews.
Good Point Ardin.I also think that if your book is enrolled in KDP Select then I think the lowest price you can go is 2.99 other wise you are outside the Terms and conditions, and they can refuse to pay your commissions for that period.
I wanted to follow up on a couple of things from earlier in this discussion. For the last six months or so, I've been running a small amount of web-ads regularly, about between $10 and $40 per week, and I have regularly had between 30 and 60 sales a month. Not very much, and I usually didn't break even, but gratifying that someone out there was buying. Some questioned earlier in this discussion whether the web-ads were effective at all. It's a legitimate issue - my consistent sales could have been a result of word of mouth, coming from the giveaway I did in the summer. The fact that I was running ads didn't actually mean that they were contributing to my sales!
Well, a few weeks ago I had a rather unfortunate financial setback, which has resulted (temporarily, I hope!) in my being unable to run web-ads. So I have this involuntary test. What has happened to my sales? They stopped! This tells me 2 things - first, that the web-ads probably worked; second, that selling sixty books a month does NOT create any sort of "momentum" (i.e., getting your book mentioned in Amazon official emails and "you may like" boxes that snowball into additional sales).
It does raise the interesting question of how many books you need to sell (or how many free downloads you need) to create Amazon momentum, and over what period of time. Maybe Amazon doesn't test it by month, but by day or week, which would mean that one should frontload ads during one particular brief period of time, just go crazy across the internet and spend like a sailor.
Now, as I have mentioned before, I did not create my own web campaign - it is a little involved, and you need to figure out what websites result in the most hits and the most efficiency. It's something I couldn't have done myself. But I do believe it has worked.
Steven wrote: "I wanted to follow up on a couple of things from earlier in this discussion. For the last six months or so, I've been running a small amount of web-ads regularly, about between $10 and $40 per we..."
What genre are your books, and where did you run your ads?
My book is a science fiction Western novel, and I ran the ads mostly on web comic sites.
Very interesting Steven. And sorry to hear about your financial setback. Believe me you are not alone there! Anyway,
I have one other thought on your experience. You said that you didn't think you gained any kind of momentum on Amazon because your sales stopped when your ads stopped.
It might be however, that the your adds only got you 10 or 20 sales a month, and that those few sales gained you enough 'micro momentum' on amazon to get another sale or two from each. I often wonder if just a single sale on Amazon is enough to get a few recommendations out there to gain another sale from that one. It certainly feels like that because usually I get one sale per day. That's without advertising. Only Amazon's own recommendations. I never get two sales in a day, but often I can go ten days or more, getting one each day. It's almost like Amazon thinks my books is a 1 sale a day book and recommends it until I get my sale and then moves on. I don't know. Maybe I'm being a bit superstitious, but I do think I get some promo from Amazon's own systems.
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Ah well, live and learn. Good marketing on the part of Goodreads--on behalf of themselves--it worked on me! If I get any more reviews from the giveaway I'll let you know.
Karen