Before you read this article, read THIS ONE.
I started in KDP Select in January 2012 and had a really stellar year. Much of my success that year was due to all of my books reaching #1 free when I used my KDP Select free days and then Amazon's algorithms pushing my books up the charts when they came off free. This worked like a charm for a while until Amazon changed their algorithms and books no longer skyrocketed when they went back to regular price.
I don't expect anything to last forever, and as an author, just because you hop on the "trending train" doesn't mean you shouldn't keep trying all sorts of different things. If you put all your eggs in one basket, when that basket empties, you might find yourself left with nothing. And then it's back to the drawing board.
Two years later, I have a couple novellas in KDP Select, but my full-length novels are on multiple sites. Do I still think KDP Select is a good idea? Yes, if you are a new author.
What does a new author need?
1. To get noticed.
2. To find readers.
3. To establish a fan base.
I believe KDP Select is still a great option for newbie writers. Readers don't mind taking a chance on you if your book is free, but as an unknown author, even if you price it for what you think your work is worth, very few readers want to pay good money for an author that is unknown.
The key to success if you're putting your novel up for free is to let others know about it. To maximize your chances, I've created a list that gives you all the places you should notify when your book is going free. Believe me when I say, it's worth every second of your time to prepare for your free days well in advance.
Facebook Groups:
When I first wrote this post, I included about 100 Facebook pages where you could pimp your book freebie (with the group admin's permission, of course). However, one of the latest trends I've seen too much lately is authors marking other authors as "spamming the page" even when you post your book on a site dedicated to author freebies AND with permission. As someone who is opposed to spamming in any way, shape, or form, I was disappointed to see this happen to good law-abiding authors who didn't deserve it.
The first time some random person reports your post as spam (and you won't even know who reported it as misuse, by the way) you get slapped by FB with a two week probation. Do it twice, you could lose your account entirely. I have an author page on Facebook and run my own paid ads on there quite a bit, so the risk just isn't worth it, even though I wasn't doing anything wrong. I'd rather pay for ads than go to Facebook jail. So I'd like you all to consider using your Facebook author page to your advantage, and I'll try to carve out some time in the near future for a post on making the most of your Facebook author page. For now...let's move on.
Main Book Sites to Notify:
Before we get started, if you would rather pay $25 to have someone else notify 25 sites for you, consider Ebook Booster and also additional exposure with Fiverr.
Awesome Gang
Fill out the form.
Bargain eBook Hunter
You can request your book be featured free or pay $10.00 to guarantee placement. See page for details. If you can shell out the five bones for a guaranteed placement, do it. You want as much publicity on your free pages as you can get. Click HERE for the $5.00 form.
BookBlast
Fill out the form. They have about 25,000 subscribers and are growing every day. Books must have five reviews.
Book Goodies
Fill out the form.
Book Marketing Tools
So...this site does a lot of the work for you for a price of $14.99. They submit your freebie to 55 websites. This is a great way to go if you don't want to spend hours doing it yourself.
Digital Book Today
Good news and bad news with this one. If your book is new, it probably won't get promoted. You need a minimum of 30 reviews and an average of 4.2 stars or more to promote your book on the day it's free. You will also need to pay. Anthony charges $30 per day.
Discover Free Books
On this site, they are running a promotion where you pay $5.00 and they will promote you all over the place. Check out their page for more details. NOTE: You MUST give them a seven day advance notice minimum.
Ebooks Addict
Fill out the form at the bottom of the page.
eBook Deal of the Day UK
Fill out the form. They only accept the romance genre.
eBooks Habit
Fill out the form. They offer paid promotions as well. Books must have at least three reviews and no graphic sex scenes.
eBook Lister
Fill out the form
Ereader News Today
Fill out form. NOTE: He does not guarantee that he will post your book and selects books with the MOST reviews and highest rankings first.
eReader Perks
Fill out the form.
eReader Utopia
You can submit freebies and any books you are promoting up to $2.99.
Flurries of Words
He charges $5 to list your book for free.
Free Book Dude
Fill out the form.
Free Booksy
Fill out form.
Free Digital eReads
Fill out the form.
Free eBooks Daily
$5 to promote your freebie.
Free Kindle Books and Tips
Fill out the form. Book needs to have an average of at least four stars to be considered.
Good Kindles
List your freebie at three different price points, the lowest being $7.95 and the highest $19.95. As far as followers, they have over 1,600 on Facebook, and that's all I could find out on their page.
Indie Book of the Day
Follow the instructions on their site. No erotica.
Just Kindle Books
Like their page to unlock the form.
Kindle Freebies
On this page they list their email address which you use to email your freebie.
Kindle On The Cheap
From what I can tell, you fill out the contact form. Include name of book, your name, dates it will be free, link.
Kiss My Freebies
They do have some requirements including a minimum of ten reviews and a 4.0 average ranking.
Kobo Book Hub
IF your book is on Kobo, they have their own submission form.
Orangeberry Book Tour
It is $9.99 for two days, and they will pimp you on their Twitter and Facebook pages. You will receive ten tweets, five per day.
Pixel Of Ink
You can submit up to 30 days in advance.
Pixelscroll
Fill out the form.
Storyfinds
A continually growing fan base which includes over 17,000 Facebook likes. Excellent and cheap for your .99 sale days.
Talisman Book Publishing
Fill out the form.
That Book Place
Fill out the form.
The-Cheap
Fill out the form. They charge $25, and I am not sure what the reach is. They have over 4,000 Facebook followers as of 12/2012.
The eReader Café
They have a form for freebies as well as .99 books. Books must be at least 120 pages.
Wanton Reads
For romance/erotica.
Wonderworld
It's $8 for one book and one book excerpt. No erotica, no gore.
TWITTER
Tweet these guys and they will retweet your freebie for you. I have found three that always RT, and they are the ones below in red. As for the others, a lot of times they don't RT.
https://twitter.com/#!/AuthorKarma
This is a Twitter site. You tweet your book announcement to them starting with the word "announcement" and they will re-tweet it.
@kindlebookpulse will RT your promo, just send them a DM.
@kindleebooks
@Kindlestuff
@KindleEbooksUK (THIS IS UK, SO MAKE SURE YOUR TWEET IS FOR UK SITE)
@KindleFreeBook
@free
@4FreeKindleBook
@DigitalBkToday
@kindlenews
@AmazonBookPromo
@WritersNetGuide
@TweetinURBook
@KindleBookBlast
@BookForPromoted
@Superfabbooks
@kindle_promo
@IndAuthor
@ZilcheBooks
@KindleDaily
@AmazonKindle
@HundredZeros
@e_reading
@Free_UK_eBooks (THIS IS UK, SO MAKE SURE YOUR TWEET IS FOR UK SITE)
@BooksontheKnob
@KindleNews
@FreeStuffRocks
@BookBub
@KindleFireDept
Showing posts with label indie writers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indie writers. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Book Review: Spotlight on Michael Robertson's Regret (writing as Dan Dawkins)
Oh what a tangled web we weave...this is a good way to describe Michael Robertson's novel Regret. What initially attracted me (besides the fact that it was nicely formatted and easy to read) was the use of language throughout the novel. He does a great job of turning a phrase. I also enjoyed many of the chapter endings and thought he did a good job of creating a hook that makes the reader want to keep reading. Here's an example of that:
"It was only a few hours after this that I awakened naked in Jenna's hotel, her body pressed against mine, under the sheets of the bed, and had then been propelled into the unbelievable and despair-filled horror that would become the rest of my life."
A lot of books these days are predictable, but not this one. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and I can usually guess what's going to happen next, so I really enjoyed the suprise that came with not knowing what to expect.
The novel is well written and well thought out, and I highly recommend it. And you can get it for .99 right now on the KINDLE and the NOOK.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.
Before you can even begin to write, you have to read—A lot! I was fortunate enough to have a mother who loved to read and did her best to pass the fascination with books onto me. She didn’t have to try very hard. From since I can remember I’ve always had a book by my side. I wrote a few stories when I was young, and enjoyed it, but didn’t really start and try my hand at seriously writing fiction until I was about 20. I’ve written two novels since then, but only published the second one, Regret.
2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?
Regret is about a young author named Dan Dawkins who, just as all the pieces of his life begin to fit together, experiences a great tragedy, for which he blames nobody but himself…at first. As he tries to outrun his past he begins to become less and less stable, eventually adopting the persona of a character he’d written about. A character that isn’t so nice. The new Dan begins to think of revenge instead of guilt, and the outcome is pretty shocking. The story itself is a first-hand account told by Dan, detailing everything that happened, and offering up and explanation. This is why I published the book under Dan’s name, since it really is his story.
As far as inspiration, it’s hard to say. Regret is a classic case of the characters doing things that the writer didn’t expect. When I started writing the book the plot was a good bit different than the final product. Somewhere around the first 100 pages the story completely changed (for the better) and I never looked back.
3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?
A few of my favorites I can’t talk about because I don’t want to give anything away. But, I really enjoy the chapter where Dan spends his first night at The Sanderson Homestead. It’s where he meets Ralph, who some of my readers tell me is their favorite character in the book, and it was a lot of fun to write, bringing Ralph to life in that chapter.
4. How did you choose the title of the book?
I wrote the entire book without a title. Then I did all my edits without a title. The title is literally the last thing that I figured out with this book and ultimately settled on Regret because in the end regret is just about all Dan Dawkins had left.
5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?
Regret took me a little over a year from first day of writing to final draft. Since I work my full-time job and at the end of the day just don’t always have the motivation to sit back down at the keyboard, to say that I have a writing “schedule” would be a lie. I simply wrote when time would allow and I felt that I was focused enough to do so. Sometimes this would mean starting to write at 9PM and go till midnight, sometimes it meant getting up at 5am and writing till it was time to go to work. Sometimes it meant actually writing at work (Shhh, don’t tell my boss). The most important thing, though, is that I wrote it. And that’s what matters.
6. What made you choose your particular genre?
They say that writers tend to write what they know, and what they themselves enjoy reading. Horror, suspense, and thrillers are my favorite genres, and really all I can ever imagine myself writing. I’ve written a couple short stories that don’t really fall into these categories, but they were simply ideas that wouldn’t go away.
7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?
Well, I have a collection of short stories and one novelette coming out in May called The Teachers’ Lounge, also being published as Dan Dawkins (readers of Regret will understand), and after that I’m going to start focusing on my newest novel. I don’t have a title yet (of course) but it will be a more supernatural tale compared to Regret, full of mystery and tension. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
8. Where can you be found on the internet?
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK PAGE
TWITTER:@DanDawkinsBooks
"It was only a few hours after this that I awakened naked in Jenna's hotel, her body pressed against mine, under the sheets of the bed, and had then been propelled into the unbelievable and despair-filled horror that would become the rest of my life."
A lot of books these days are predictable, but not this one. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and I can usually guess what's going to happen next, so I really enjoyed the suprise that came with not knowing what to expect.
The novel is well written and well thought out, and I highly recommend it. And you can get it for .99 right now on the KINDLE and the NOOK.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.
Before you can even begin to write, you have to read—A lot! I was fortunate enough to have a mother who loved to read and did her best to pass the fascination with books onto me. She didn’t have to try very hard. From since I can remember I’ve always had a book by my side. I wrote a few stories when I was young, and enjoyed it, but didn’t really start and try my hand at seriously writing fiction until I was about 20. I’ve written two novels since then, but only published the second one, Regret.
2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?
Regret is about a young author named Dan Dawkins who, just as all the pieces of his life begin to fit together, experiences a great tragedy, for which he blames nobody but himself…at first. As he tries to outrun his past he begins to become less and less stable, eventually adopting the persona of a character he’d written about. A character that isn’t so nice. The new Dan begins to think of revenge instead of guilt, and the outcome is pretty shocking. The story itself is a first-hand account told by Dan, detailing everything that happened, and offering up and explanation. This is why I published the book under Dan’s name, since it really is his story.
As far as inspiration, it’s hard to say. Regret is a classic case of the characters doing things that the writer didn’t expect. When I started writing the book the plot was a good bit different than the final product. Somewhere around the first 100 pages the story completely changed (for the better) and I never looked back.
3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?
A few of my favorites I can’t talk about because I don’t want to give anything away. But, I really enjoy the chapter where Dan spends his first night at The Sanderson Homestead. It’s where he meets Ralph, who some of my readers tell me is their favorite character in the book, and it was a lot of fun to write, bringing Ralph to life in that chapter.
4. How did you choose the title of the book?
I wrote the entire book without a title. Then I did all my edits without a title. The title is literally the last thing that I figured out with this book and ultimately settled on Regret because in the end regret is just about all Dan Dawkins had left.
5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?
Regret took me a little over a year from first day of writing to final draft. Since I work my full-time job and at the end of the day just don’t always have the motivation to sit back down at the keyboard, to say that I have a writing “schedule” would be a lie. I simply wrote when time would allow and I felt that I was focused enough to do so. Sometimes this would mean starting to write at 9PM and go till midnight, sometimes it meant getting up at 5am and writing till it was time to go to work. Sometimes it meant actually writing at work (Shhh, don’t tell my boss). The most important thing, though, is that I wrote it. And that’s what matters.
6. What made you choose your particular genre?
They say that writers tend to write what they know, and what they themselves enjoy reading. Horror, suspense, and thrillers are my favorite genres, and really all I can ever imagine myself writing. I’ve written a couple short stories that don’t really fall into these categories, but they were simply ideas that wouldn’t go away.
7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?
Well, I have a collection of short stories and one novelette coming out in May called The Teachers’ Lounge, also being published as Dan Dawkins (readers of Regret will understand), and after that I’m going to start focusing on my newest novel. I don’t have a title yet (of course) but it will be a more supernatural tale compared to Regret, full of mystery and tension. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
8. Where can you be found on the internet?
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK PAGE
TWITTER:@DanDawkinsBooks
Monday, April 4, 2011
Book Review: Spotlight on Indie Writer Gary Ponzo - A Touch of Deceit
Today I am spotlighting Gary Ponzo. His latest novel is called A Touch of Deceit, and it's doing well in the Kindle market. Really well. One of the reasons for this is that I believe his book offers something a little different than many others out there, and the fact that he incorporates his Sicilian background into the story also helps.
The novel opens well with the line, "There was a time when Nick Bracco would walk down Gold Street late at night and young vandals would scatter." I like this because it incorporates action right from the start and gives readers plenty of things to question such as:
1. Who is Nick Bracco?
2. What's so special about Gold Street?
3. Why were vandals afraid of him?
This keeps the reader reading, which is exactly what should happen. And from there the story moves along well and at a fast pace and Ponzo adds several cliffhangers at the end of chapters to keep the readers turning the page.
I liked the many visuals offered throughout the book such as, "The evil seeped through the door like toxic waste." He also sets up scenes where you think you know what's happening and it turns out to be something else.
The terrorist aspect of the book reminded me of a good episode of 24 and he switches it up and allows you to see what's going on through different perspectives with multiple POV.
Overall, I found Gary Ponzo's novel entertaining and full of suspense.
The Interview:
1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.
I've always written even as a young child. I guess it became apparent I had some skill when my teachers seemed to pick my work to copy and show the rest of the class. The most memorable came as a senior in high school when I'd forgotten to write an English assignment and scribbled a couple of paragraphs while taking the bus to school. The next day my English teacher gave me an "F" on the assignment and wrote, "Who are you kidding" on top of the paper. Naturally I thought she was referring to the jumpy script from writing on a bus with worn out shocks. When I meagerly asked why I received an "F" she flatly told me I couldn't have written that work, it was simply too good. Of course I was flattered, but needed to prove my innocence. She told me to sit down in front of her and write two paragraphs of an action scene. I did it. When I was done she'd read the work and looked at me with a red face and said, "Why are you wasting your time in my class? You never raise your hand, you never join in conversation, you barely complete assignments--why are you not getting serious about this skill you have?" Of course it took me many years to take her advice to heart. Too many.
2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?
My book is political thriller about an FBI agent, Nick Bracco, who recruits his cousin Tommy to track down a terrorist. Tommy, however, is in the mafia. It's this relationship between law enforcement and those who break laws which sets up the drama of the novel.
My inspiration was born out of working in my father's candy store when I was just sixteen. I used to work alone on weekends and my father had some Sicilian friends watch over me while I was working, especially at night. I guess I knew they were mafia at the time, but to me they were family friends. They'd sip coffee and talk about their kids, baseball, my school. I wanted to show how these people were actually very patriotic, so when a terrorist comes to America to bomb soft targets, these Italian Americans show how much they value their American side.
3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?
Probably the climax. When Nick finally does come face to face with this terrorist, he finds a way to straddle the line between becoming a vigilante and legally protecting his country. I think it's my most powerful chapter in the book.
4. How did you choose the title of the book?
I wanted to come up with something which would display the undercurrent of using the mafia to scour the underworld for these terrorists. The FBI become's desperate and actually hands over classified files to these Italian Americans to help find these assassins, so they use a Touch of Deceit. It also can refer to the time Nick Bracco lies to the president about capturing this terrorist so he won't acquiesce to the terrorist's demands.
5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?
This one took me over a decade because I was still publishing short stories and trying to make a living and be a dad and a husband too. I write mostly at night when the family is asleep so I'm not interrupting anyone's lives for me to get my story down. But if I focused just on writing novels I could probably get one done in six months.
6. What made you choose your particular genre?
I guess it's what interested me. I'm Sicilian and I thought a Sicilian protagonist was interesting, but once I realized he would be an FBI agent, I knew my story would be a little different than most in that genre.
7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?
Yes, because of the success of A Touch of Deceit I'm furiously working on the sequel, A Touch of Revenge. A week doesn't go by without receiving a comment from one of my readers about the progress of the sequel. It's a very rewarding feeling knowing there are literally thousands of people waiting to read what I'm writing. I'm very blessed.
8. Where can you be found on the internet?
Website
Strong Scenes Blog
The novel opens well with the line, "There was a time when Nick Bracco would walk down Gold Street late at night and young vandals would scatter." I like this because it incorporates action right from the start and gives readers plenty of things to question such as:
1. Who is Nick Bracco?
2. What's so special about Gold Street?
3. Why were vandals afraid of him?
This keeps the reader reading, which is exactly what should happen. And from there the story moves along well and at a fast pace and Ponzo adds several cliffhangers at the end of chapters to keep the readers turning the page.
I liked the many visuals offered throughout the book such as, "The evil seeped through the door like toxic waste." He also sets up scenes where you think you know what's happening and it turns out to be something else.
The terrorist aspect of the book reminded me of a good episode of 24 and he switches it up and allows you to see what's going on through different perspectives with multiple POV.
Overall, I found Gary Ponzo's novel entertaining and full of suspense.
The Interview:
1. Tell me about yourself, how you became to be a writer, and why you are a writer.
I've always written even as a young child. I guess it became apparent I had some skill when my teachers seemed to pick my work to copy and show the rest of the class. The most memorable came as a senior in high school when I'd forgotten to write an English assignment and scribbled a couple of paragraphs while taking the bus to school. The next day my English teacher gave me an "F" on the assignment and wrote, "Who are you kidding" on top of the paper. Naturally I thought she was referring to the jumpy script from writing on a bus with worn out shocks. When I meagerly asked why I received an "F" she flatly told me I couldn't have written that work, it was simply too good. Of course I was flattered, but needed to prove my innocence. She told me to sit down in front of her and write two paragraphs of an action scene. I did it. When I was done she'd read the work and looked at me with a red face and said, "Why are you wasting your time in my class? You never raise your hand, you never join in conversation, you barely complete assignments--why are you not getting serious about this skill you have?" Of course it took me many years to take her advice to heart. Too many.
2. Tell me about your book – what inspired it?
My book is political thriller about an FBI agent, Nick Bracco, who recruits his cousin Tommy to track down a terrorist. Tommy, however, is in the mafia. It's this relationship between law enforcement and those who break laws which sets up the drama of the novel.
My inspiration was born out of working in my father's candy store when I was just sixteen. I used to work alone on weekends and my father had some Sicilian friends watch over me while I was working, especially at night. I guess I knew they were mafia at the time, but to me they were family friends. They'd sip coffee and talk about their kids, baseball, my school. I wanted to show how these people were actually very patriotic, so when a terrorist comes to America to bomb soft targets, these Italian Americans show how much they value their American side.
3. What’s your favorite chapter in your book, and why?
Probably the climax. When Nick finally does come face to face with this terrorist, he finds a way to straddle the line between becoming a vigilante and legally protecting his country. I think it's my most powerful chapter in the book.
4. How did you choose the title of the book?
I wanted to come up with something which would display the undercurrent of using the mafia to scour the underworld for these terrorists. The FBI become's desperate and actually hands over classified files to these Italian Americans to help find these assassins, so they use a Touch of Deceit. It also can refer to the time Nick Bracco lies to the president about capturing this terrorist so he won't acquiesce to the terrorist's demands.
5. How long does it take you to write a book, and what’s your daily writing schedule?
This one took me over a decade because I was still publishing short stories and trying to make a living and be a dad and a husband too. I write mostly at night when the family is asleep so I'm not interrupting anyone's lives for me to get my story down. But if I focused just on writing novels I could probably get one done in six months.
6. What made you choose your particular genre?
I guess it's what interested me. I'm Sicilian and I thought a Sicilian protagonist was interesting, but once I realized he would be an FBI agent, I knew my story would be a little different than most in that genre.
7. Are you working on another book now – if so, what would you like to tell the readers about it?
Yes, because of the success of A Touch of Deceit I'm furiously working on the sequel, A Touch of Revenge. A week doesn't go by without receiving a comment from one of my readers about the progress of the sequel. It's a very rewarding feeling knowing there are literally thousands of people waiting to read what I'm writing. I'm very blessed.
8. Where can you be found on the internet?
Website
Strong Scenes Blog
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