Publishing On Kindle: BAND GEEK Review

Early this morning, I had two big things on my mind: the Presidential election results and the release of my first professional book review as part of my ongoing Virtual Blog Tour.

I'm pleased -- and relieved -- that Chrys, author of the book review blog Oh, Chrys enjoyed my novel so much. It's always nice to have your work complimented, but what I really appreciate is that she took the time to write such a thorough and thoughtful review. She didn't think that BAND GEEK was pefect and had some valid criticisms, but I feel as if she really "got" the story. She also noted how much time I'd obviously spent when it came to crafting realistic, relatable characters, and I'm ecstatic that my efforts were noticed.

When I ask friends -- or my blog readers -- for reviews, I'm not fishing for compliments. I'm not expecting anyone to gush over my work. I'm looking for reviews that are honest and detailed, that explain exactly WHY my book made an impression (good or bad). Not everyone is going to react to a book or movie, or some other subjective piece of art or literature, the same way, and I'd like to get my readers' unique takes on BAND GEEK.

For any writers who are reading this blog, I do suggest getting a couple of professional reviewers to critique your work. Writing a review that truly explains what makes a book tick is difficult and a skill unto itself. Chrys's piece has given me some stuff to think about when I work on my next novel -- which is what a good critique should do.

And Chrys, if you're reading this, I truly believe that you have a bright future in publishing, either as an editor or a literary agent. I'm not just saying that because you liked my book!

Please read AND review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, just 99 cents on Kindle!

More Excerpts From REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD

Here are a couple more excerpts from BAND GEEK:

Josh offers to drive home Melinda for the first time and she's surprised by his car. FYI, my mother-in-law, Sharon, is an avid Star Trek fan, so his car decor is in her honor:

Josh led me across the parking lot to his car, which turned out to be an old, beat-up station wagon. Several bumper stickers were plastered onto the pea-green vehicle, including ones that said, "Honk if you love Tribbles!" and "I break for Spock."

"What?" Josh said, when he caught me chuckling. "This belonged to my Aunt Sharon. She really loves Star Trek."

"I'm sorry," I said. "This just isn't the type of car I expected you, of all people, to be driving. I thought you'd have something cooler, like a motorcycle." I tried to open the door to the passenger side but it wouldn't budge. He crawled across the driver's seat and pushed it open for me.

"It only opens from the inside," he explained. "But really," he went on, as he cleared a bunch of soda cans off my seat (none were Coke, I noticed). "What did you expect me to drive? I mean, I'm 16 and have hardly any money. I'm just glad my aunt was getting rid of this old thing."

"Well, you're lucky you have your license at all. My parents don't seem too anxious to teach me how to drive when I get my permit." Actually, they haven't wanted to discuss it at all. Whenever I bring up the idea of getting my permit, my mom will be like, "You don't need to drive. There are a lot of crazy people out there." I think she's so reluctant for me to get my license because she hardly drives herself, only on Long Island, but never in the city. But I love the idea of being able to get in a car and go wherever I want. I love the thought of being able to escape when I need to.

Josh turned on the engine and the car made a few choking sounds. "Get someone else to teach you to drive," he said. "It's not like your parents can make you do what they say forever."

"You don't know my parents," I sighed.

In this excerpt, Mel talks about her paintings. Fun fact: In college, I had several Dali posters in my room. I then invited over this guy I liked ... and he was horrified by the paintings. He thought that I was "sweet and nice" and was appalled that I liked Dali's out-there work. Needless to say, he and I didn't end up dating...:

For my last birthday, Lana gave me a professional painting kit, mainly because she thought I needed a hobby other than playing the flute. "It's perfect for you," she said as I opened her gift. "It's artsy and it's the type of thing you can do for hours without having to talk to anyone."

At the time, I'd jokingly told her to shut up, that I'm not that much of a shut-in, but she is right about me loving the arts. Before my dad started working such long hours and my mom began to take care of my grandfather, they'd take me to the city to see concerts and visit the museums. My favorite was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met is huge; it took us all day to go through about a quarter of it, but I loved how every time we entered a different wing, it felt as if we were going into a new world.

As for my own paintings, I've been on a Salvador Dali kick lately. After Lana gave me her present, I purchased a bunch of art books so I could see what various painters' styles are like. I really like Dali's. His stuff is really strange; for instance, he has this one painting called "The Persistence Of Memory" that has all of these melted clocks in it. I love how his stuff looks like one thing at first and if you keep looking at it, you see something else.

So I've been trying to do some Dali-like paintings myself. Right now, I'm working on one where I'm making everything in my room appear melt-y. I was in the middle of painting a melted version of my bed (which is harder than it looks because the cover is floral and I had to make all the flowers look distorted) when I heard someone come home. I looked at my clock (which isn't melted, by the way); it was 9 p.m.

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!

Promotional Kindle Sale for BAND GEEK!

I've read many articles and books which offer advice on how to market your book on Kindle. Almost all suggest that you play around with the price and offer some promotional sales. So I'm doing just that and am currently offering REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD for just 99 cents! Less than a dollar -- that's pocket change!

I've debated whether I want to do this. Honestly, I feel like my book is worth more than that. I don't want to give readers the impression that this is a pile of junk and that's why I'm practically giving it away. But... every author does promotional work and I need to keep up. So 99 cents it is, at least for now. So get it while it's hot!

I'm still deciding if I want to sign up for Kindle Select. With this program, you get five days in a 90-day period where you can give away your book for free. It's a great way to get many readers and reviews, and move your book up the ranks. The only downside is that you can't sell your book on other sites like Smashwords. Still, 90 days isn't THAT long a period... I'm mulling it over.

For now, I'm going as low as I can with the regular Kindle program. So please check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK, review and hopefully enjoy!