KDP Select Free Days Success Story!

Yesterday, I used my fifth and final KDP Select Free Day promotion -- and I'm finally seeing some significant results ... so far.

To backtrack for those of you who aren't aware of Kindle Direct Publishing Select's program, if you sign with them, you sign a 90-day exclusivity contract. During that time, you can only sell your work on Amazon/Kindle; you can't sell on Smashwords or Lulu, or even on your own site. However, during the 90-day period, you get five days during which you can offer your book for free. You can string all five days together or do one or two or three at a time. It's very flexible.

If you put some effort into planning your promotion, you can potentially have thousands of new readers download your book. Your work then ends up on the "customers also bought" lists, you get added exposure and you can see a bump in sales following the promotion.

But the trick is in PLANNING for your free days. The first time I tried the promotion, I did two days in a row. I didn't advertise much, other than on this blog and on Twitter. I got about 500 downloads and a slight bump in sales. Moreover, I made a few foreign sales afterward.

My third and fourth giveaways didn't go so well. One I stupidly scheduled for the United States' Election Day. Since most of my readers are American, I just didn't get traffic. I tried to advertise on more outlets, like various Facebook pages for free ebooks, but I only got about 100 downloads. The same thing happened for Attempt No. 4. I was disappointed and began to wonder if giving my book away was even worth it.

I then put more effort into publicizing and marketing my book. I set up an author page on Goodreads and tried to engage with more people on Facebook and Twitter ... and I saw a slight increase in sales, even without doing the promotion. Meanwhile, I had one free day left, which I'd scheduled for November 26 -- which just happened to be on Cyber monday. While I'd done my other promotions basically on a whim, I took the time to plan for this one. I submitted my book in advance to dozens of Free Ebook Promotional Sites so that it would be advertised on the day of my giveaway. Meanwhile, my sales continued to do resonably well.

Know what? Submitting to those sites AHEAD OF TIME worked! Yesterday, my book had over 2200 downloads -- a nice, big jump from that paltry 100 I had a few weeks back! It made it to No. 2 on the list for Free Books Teen Romance and was No. 107 overall in the Free Kindle Store. While downloading, 10 people "Liked" my Amazon page, giving me some more street cred.

I'm now seeing a significant bump in sales, at least for today. I'm not sure how long it will last, but the promotion is helping, at least for the short term.

So here's what I think helped: 1) My book was starting to get more sales, anyway, so it was moving up in rank. Therefore, when I did the promo, it went to the top of the list pretty quickly. 2) As I said before, I planned ahead. Twitter and Facebook can only help so much, but sites like Pixel Of Ink will really get the word out about your book.

My advice then is this: before doing a free day for your book, put some effort into marketing your work. If your rank is 800,000, a free day probably won't help your sales that much. Also, don't choose to do a free promotion on a whim like I did. Pick a day about a month ahead of time. This way, you have plenty of time to submit to advertising sites. Many want you to submit at least a couple of weeks in advance; the earlier you give your book's listing, the more of a chance that it will actually be listed.

Like I said, I still have to see how the longterm results of my latest giveaway pan out. But I definitely think that it's worth it for authors to at least try KDP Select.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

FREE Kindle Book -- Free Ebook Today!

My book REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD is FREE on Kindle today, November 10, 2012. This is my fourth free KDP Select day, so time is running out. I get just one more free day after this, so this is your chance to get my book for free. Do it now before my special ends.

I'm realizing in retrospect that scheduling my last free day to be on Election Day in the US wasn't the wisest idea. Most people weren't online looking for books; they were checking out election results. But it's now the weekend and reading a good ebook is the perfect way to relax. So why not download mine and get your mind off of your troubles for a couple of hours?

Like I said, time is running out, so get BAND GEEK for free while you can! Head over to REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD on Amazon!

REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD: The Tale Behind The Title

When it came to choosing my book's title, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, a lot of thought was put into it. I wanted something that's catchy, shocking -- and captures the dark comedy tones of my story.

This wasn't my novel's original title. It was actually called WHO'S ON FIRST?, alluding to the fight between Melinda and Kathy for first chair flute. However, when my former agent took me on, she immediately told me to nix that title, explaining that it was too vague and too reminiscent of Abbott and Costello's famed "Who's On First?" bit (I was kind of going for a play on that, but I understood what she was saying). Instead, she suggested that I make my title music-related. I suggested a straight-to-the-point FIRST CHAIR, but she again said that it was too vague and advised me to incorporate the revenge aspect. I brainstormed ideas and eventually came up with REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD. My agent loved it! So did many of the editors to whom she sent my manuscript. Though they all disagreed on which parts of my story they liked and disliked, they all got a kick out of the intriguing title.

One of the criticisms I recently received is that the title gives away too much of the story, but I don't think that this is the case. It tells the gist of the tale -- you know that a band geek is going to do something awful in the name of revenge, but you don't know why or how, or if there will be consequences. I mean, take the popular movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You know that people will die and you know how they'll be killed, but you don't know the details -- and that's what makes you want to tune in.

Being a journalist, I like to think of my title as being kind of like a headline in a newspaper. It's the lead-in that teases an idea, but doesn't give the entire story away. It's the very first part of a story -- even before you read the first line -- that gets you excited and draws you in. A header like, "Crazy Mom Goes On Rampage In Supermarket" technically tells you exactly what happened, but definitely grabs your attention and makes you want to find out WHY and HOW it happened.

Besides, revenge is only part of my story. There is also romance, friendship, music among other things; it's just that for the title's sake, highlighting the revenge aspect made the most sense to me.

So I'm sticking with my title -- and am confident that others will want to "get revenge," as well.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, FREE on Kindle, today, November 10.

Movie Review -- And Why I Chose To Be A Writer Instead Of A Musician

My husband and I saw a wonderful movie last night called A Late Quartet. It stars some fabulous actors, including Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and takes viewers into the lives of four musicians who play in a popular chamber group. The foursome, who've been together for 25 years, are devastated when their cellist (Walken) announces that he has Parkinson's Disease -- and their lives are suddenly turned upside-down and inside out.

I enjoyed the movie because the music was a big focus; there's even a fight over first chair, which I took as a shout-out! But what I really loved was how the story explored the messy dynamics between the quartet members. These musicians had been together for so long, they'd become family -- and as in many families, you had intense fights and heartbreaking betrayals. The final scene was so powerful, it made my eyes tear (and I rarely cry during movies), and the movie audience clapped with approval during the credits. I highly recommend seeing it regardless if you're a musician yourself.

After, my husband and I went to dinner and Jon questioned why I never became a professional musician in the traditional sense, meaning why didn't I join an orchestra or a chamber group? The simple answer: I just didn't want to. Though I was a very competitive flutist in high school, I didn't LIKE being competitive. I usually did well, but it was stressful. I often got up at 4:30 a.m. to get in some practice before school (my parents were early risers so this wasn't an issue) and lost sleep over auditions. If I didn't get a good score or make a particular orchestra, I'd be in tears. I felt almost trapped by being a skilled player because so much was expected of me and I wasn't playing music because I liked it. I just liked being good at it.

The times I did have fun performing were in jazz band and musical pit orchestra, where I played sax. These weren't very competitive groups so I could just relax and enjoy myself. As a group, we worked hard, but there was no fighting over chairs or fighting for a score from judges.

In college, I lightened up a great deal and remembered why I loved to play the flute so much. I wasn't a music major, so it no longer bothered me if I wasn't first chair. At that point, I stopped caring if I was even a part of the first section. I just wanted to play and have a good time. I still practiced a lot, but it was more for myself. I learned how to play clarinet and was proud to be one of the few "triplers" in school.

Still, while I participated in plenty of ensembles, I had no interest in taking "serious" music classes like composition or music theory. During my junior year, my jazz band instructor insisted on giving me private lessons where he taught me some theory and honestly, I hated it. I much preferred playing music as a hobby and wanted to give more time to writing for the local newspaper. He was a teacher whom I respected, but his lessons made me quit the jazz band for a semester because I needed to get away from him.

When I was in grad school, I tried out for a local orchestra and the conductor turned me down because he thought that me not being a music major meant that I wasn't a serious performer. I was angry at the time, but looking back, he was right. I wasn't. I was serious about becoming a journalist. I didn't want to practice flute for six hours a day and then spend hours in rehearsals. Playing the flute for an hour or two in band was enough for me.

These days, I do consider myself to be "professional" because I'm skilled enough that I make some money from playing the flute. I performed with a band for several years, taught at camps and gave private lessons, play at weddings and even put out a CD. But I mainly think of music as a hobby. I know that if I put in more time, I could be a lot better than I am, but I'm happy where I'm at. It fits into my life nicely along with my writing and jewelry making.

In high school, I didn't really care about the music; it was more about being the best -- or one of the best -- at something. I now play BECAUSE I love music and the flute, and I'm much, much happier.

For more musical stories, please read and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD. FREE on Kindle today, November 10!

Hey, Readers -- I Need Your Help!

If you're in the United States, chances are you're glued to the election results. This one is certainly a nailbiter. But if you're looking for a break from the drama, please check out my novel, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, which is free on Kindle today, November 6.

As of this posting, my book is No. 41 in the "Romance" subcategory of free teen books. I'd really like to get it into the top 20 for this category, or even the top 10. How can you help? Head to my page and download it. It's free! What have you got to lose except, well nothing?

I find it kind of amusing that I'm campaigning so hard for my book on election day. Kind of fitting, no? But think of this as me sending all of you virtual bumper stickers and pins asking you to VOTE for REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

I'm Naomi and I approve this message...

Get My FREE Kindle Book Today!

Right now, on November 6 only, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD is FREE on Kindle! So please head over to check it out! This offer is only for today.

The more copies that are downloaded, the higher my rank is pushed up, so please help me out. I'd LOVE to have at least 1000 copies downloaded today. It only takes two seconds to do so -- and you get a free book to enjoy. You're the winner in this scenario!

Of course, please take the time to actually read BAND GEEK once you've downloaded it. You won't be disappointed.

So today is the time to head over to Amazon and check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD -- for free!

FREE Kindle Book TOMORROW!

Great news! I've decided to use another one of my KDP Select FREE days. So for tomorow, November 6, 2012, only -- get my Young Adult novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD for FREE!

Of course, if you download my book, please take the time to actually read it and then review it. So far, it's getting great reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads.

BAND GEEK has a little of everything: romance, drama, family relationships, a memorable coming-of-age story... and it's extremely fast-paced. Check it out while commuting to work on the train, or while you're relaxing between classes.

So head to my Amazon page tomorrow for another FREE giveaway -- and enjoy reading REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD!

Last Day In Los Angeles

Well, today is our (hopefully) last day in L.A. I've had a great time here, but I'm anxious about home. Part of me wants to flee to Hawaii so I can avoid seeing New York City in ruins, but I also want to get home to my friends, family, cat, apartment and my real life.

We made the most of today by visiting museums in the L.A. area. We first stopped by the Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum. It's tiny, but houses some beautiful work and also has a great sculpture garden. We hung out there for a while and it was very peaceful. We then went to the California Science Center to see the new Endeavor shuttle exhibit. That was cool! We got to ride in a space simulator and enjoyed a 3D IMAX movie about the Hubble Telescope.

Still, as much fun as I've had here and despite my mixed feelings about returning home to a disaster zone, I am looking forward to my next projects. My Virtual Book Tour kicked off today; head over there to get your chance to win some cool prizes. Meanwhile, my interview at YA Promo Central goes live tomorrow! And I, of course, want to get going on my next book.

So wish me luck as we attempt to fly from L.A. to Philly, and then drive to NYC. And don't forget to read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Join Me On My Virtual Book Tour!

It's the first day of my book tour for REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD! Sorry I haven't posted as much as I'd promised; Hurricane Sandy did some damage on my family's home and we're still in California due to canceled flights. Needless to say, my mind has been elsewhere. But I'm trying to get back into gear (especially since I'm not sure if I'll have Internet or power when we return to New York)so let's get this thing started!

Today, my tour begins at the prime hosting site Virtual Book Cafe. Head over to this link and you can sign up to win that grand prize giveaway that I previously wrote about: one winner selected will get a free copy of BAND GEEK, a free autographed FLUTE PATH CD and a free pair of handmade G clef music earrings. Meanwhile, I'll also be giving away more free copies of my book. So head over there or to their Facebook page and sign up. All you need to do is click and add your name; it's that easy.

Tomorrow, my tour heads to Cindy Vine's Blog, where I'll be writing a guest post. Make sure you follow me there and check it out!

Meanwhile, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents!

Free Kindle Books! Special Giveaway!

Just two more days until my Virtual Book Tour for BAND GEEK takes off! As I said earlier, I will be doing interviews and guest blog posts. I'll also be offering some exciting giveaways and freebies for readers!

In addition to giving away several free copies of my Kindle book, one GRAND PRIZE winner from the tour will get a very special triple treat: a FREE book, a FREE pair of handmade earrings and a FREE autographed copy of my jazz flute CD! Here is some more information on each prize.

A FREE copy of REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD (sent by me as a Kindle gift)

My ebook follows the story of Melinda, a shy high school flute player who loses her seat in band to popular girl Kathy. Mel teams up with cute trumpet player Josh and they plot to take down Kathy. Along the way, Mel and Josh fall in love, but Melinda begins to question Josh's behavior -- and is forced to grow up as she deals with some tough decisions.

So far, BAND GEEK is getting rave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads! Many are saying that though it's a high school story, readers of all ages will enjoy it. I describe it as a dark comedy, a la Heathers or Welcome To The Dollhouse or Election. There's drama, friendship, romance, suspense; all in all, it's a very fast-paced read. This will be a chance to get a copy for FREE!

My jazz CD FLUTE PATH

In my book, Melinda loves to play the flute. I also play in real life and this is an example of my work. This CD was a true challenge for me to put together. I composed all of the songs, taking inspiration from jazz greats like Dave Brubeck. I then played both the flute AND piano parts (I hired a drummer and guitarist). Many ask how I played both and the answer is simple: I first recorded the piano section and then played flute over it. I didn't play both instruments at the same time! Still, piano is not my best instrument; I describe myself as being conversational on piano and fluent on flute. So it was interesting to get my piano playing up to a level where it sounded good enough to record.

FREE pair of handmade Treble Clef earrings!

When I'm not writing or making music, I run my two jewelry businesses Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations. All of my pieces are handmade by me and these earrings are no exception. They're made from 20 gauge silver plated copper wire, which I twisted into a G-clef. On the ends hang Swarovski crystal hearts. The winner will get to choose which color heart he or she wants. I make earrings in many designs, but wanted to go with a musical theme in honor of BAND GEEK.

So there you have it. These are the three items that I'll be giving away to ONE grand prize winner on my book tour. So keep checking in on this blog for updates and that day's tour location. And make sure to read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD!

Publishing With KDP Select: You're My Obsession

Sorry for the slow blogging. I've actually been busy writing guest blog posts for my upcoming virtual book tour. My VBT kicks off on October 31, so stay tuned for more information!

Meanwhile, I think that the free Kindle book promotion has ruined me. During my two freebie days, it was so much fun to see my book's numbers rise. It got to the point where I was checking in every two minutes to see how many people had downloaded BAND GEEK.

And now I'm still checking in. Unfortunately, my stats have slowed down considerably and it's just not as much fun to head to the page. But yet I keep checking in to see if anyone has bought or reviewed my book. I feel like a crazy person who's repeating her actions over and over again.

I think that I keep looking at my stats because this is still very new to me. When I first set up my jewelry store on Etsy, I'd check in all of the time, but I now only click on that page a couple of times a day. I'm still not used to seeing my book on Amazon, though, so it remains a novelty.

I'd like to think that I will never get used to getting good reviews; that it will always be exciting to hear that someone likes my work. So for now, I'll continue to obsess over my stats and enjoy every increase and new review.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents.

My Free Kindle Book Promotion Results

Well, it's the day after my free Kindle book promotion and the results are well ... mixed. On the one hand, my book rank has gone WAY up in several important categories. If you do a search on Amazon under "Young Adult Romance," BAND GEEK is now on the top of the second page! And if you click again on the link for Young Adult Romance books published in the last 30 days, I'm now No. 2! So my promotion has definitely given me a lot more visability.

Unfortunately, it didn't translate into any extra sales -- and because I've been doing this special promotion for the past two days, my overall sales rank on Amazon has dropped.

I'm not yet discouraged, though. I mean, BAND GEEK was published less than two weeks ago and already hundreds of people have downloaded it. Now I just have to hope that they actually read their free book and review it. I'm also hoping that my novel will start appearing in those "customers who bought this book also bought..." lists that appear on the Amazon pages.

I have three more free days to use before the end of the year when my 90-day contract with KDP Select expires. Next time, I intend to be more prepared. This time around, I promoted my giveaway with blog posts and Twitter blasts, but apparently there are dozens of sites that advertise free Kindle books. I came across this really useful blog by Katrina Parker Williams that lists them all. So next time, I intend to promote my book on all of these sites -- and reach that audience that's specifically looking for free ebooks.

Meanwhile, I just bought advertising space on The Kindle Book Review and will soon be doing a virtual book tour with Virtual Book Tour Cafe. Both kick off on October 31. I'm really looking forward to the tour, not only because I could make more sales, but because it'll be fun writing guest blog posts and doing radio interviews. I've never done either, so to me, that seems exciting.

I did put some money into these things, but I'm confident that it will be worth it in the end. Part of being an indie author is being a business person. It took me years to get my writing to a point where I felt comfortable enough to share it with the world. Everything else will work out in time, too.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents!

FREE Kindle Book Promotion Continues....

OK, so apparently I'd signed up for two days of free promotion of my book instead of one. Oops! Oh, well, it seems to be working. REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD is now... drumroll, please ... #5 in the Free Kindle Store under Girls & Women (in the Children's Fiction subcategory); #9 under People And Places, #18 in Love & Romace and #437 OVERALL! That's right, it's #4-freaking-37 out of about 60,000 ebooks. Sweet!

I'm also moving up in other search categories; if you search under "Young Adult Romamce" and then click "Last 30 Days," I'm now on the first page! I was on Page 5 before. If you just click "Young Adult Romance," I'm now #103, whereas I was in the 800s before. So this crazy plan is definitely getting more eyeballs to my book. Any authors who are reading this: definitely try having a giveaway day!

Now the real challenge comes in seeing how my book fares AFTER the promotion is over. Will the momentum keep up or will it fall to the back of Kindle again? I hope not. I intend to keep this thing going.

Until then, you can continue to read for FREE, so go for it. Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD -- for FREE!

Book Promotion! FREE Kindle Book!

Just a reminder that I'm having a special sale on my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD. For two days only -- October 21 and 22 -- my book will be FREE in Amazon's Kindle store. So check it out!

FYI, you don't actually have to own a Kindle to download a Kindle book. You can get a free app that works with pretty much any computer, from a PC to an iPad. I have a Kindle app on my laptop.

If you download my book, please make sure to review it on my Amazon page. Let me know what you think!

Meantime, keep checking back with this blog for more reviews, behind-the-scenes stories about my books and for more of my thoughts on the writing process.