Kindle Book Review Feature

As part of my publicity campaign for BAND GEEK, I'm having it featured in The Kindle Book Review site. It seems to be working so far because I've had decent sales today after a bit of a slow-down. Moreover, I love the way the sensationalist tabloid-like headline that they gave to my blurb: "Mel Just Lost First Chair -- And She Wants Revenge!" I'm picturing Zombie Mel coming after Kathy with a chainsaw. It's certainly an attention-grabbing way to advertise my book!

As a journalist, I appreciate that they took the time to come up with a catchy header. I also like that the person who put this together obviously spent a lot of time reading through my blurb, bio and Amazon page to come up with an appropriate ad for me. Thirdly, they link to my purchase page several times throughout the ad. Overall, I'd say that I got my money's worth.

Meanwhile, my blog tour is going strong -- or at least it's supposed to be. So far, a couple of sites have yet to post my guest blog entries on deadline. But I also understand that life sometimes happens and that sometimes people can't get to their computers for reasons beyond their control (massive hurricanes, for instance). So I'm trying to be patient and hope that my posts will appear soon enough. (Update: it was indeed a power outage that prevented my post from going up. But it's up now and I will link tomorrow).

Some people are questioning my decision to pay for publicity, but I believe in that old adage, "You need to spend money to make money." I believe in it to a point, anyway. Obviously, you don't want to go into debt or to spend money on things that won't help your business. But I've learned through my jewelry businesses that you do need to spend at least a little cash to get results. This is why I don't mind too much if I have to pay the registration fee for a craft fair or for some book advertising. I've set a budget for both and see these as worthy investments.

My main goal, of course, is to get my book out there. Slowly, but surely, the word is spreading. I know that it will take time and patience -- and I'm TRYING to be patient, though it isn't always easy!

Please 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!