Kindle Direct Publishing: Pricing Your Book

I published my novel with Kindle Direct Publishing almost three months ago, but am still trying to figure out what the best price is for it. Thankfully, Kindle makes it easy to change your book's information, including its price, so self-published authors can experiment and see what readers are willing to pay.

I initially sold BAND GEEK for $2.99 because several other indie pub YA titles that I like sell at that price. However, what I didn't take into account is that these authors are more established than I am and have had their work up on Amazon for a while. Readers know what they're getting with these authors so they're willing to pay a bit more for their work. New authors, like me, still need to prove themselves. That said, I did manage to sell a few downloads at $2.99, but it was mostly to friends and family members. After that, sale died down.

I decided to lower the price significantly and repriced my book at 99 cents. Sales went up tremendously! I guess people are looking for a bargain, especially when it comes to unknown names. I ended up making more on my book at $.99 because I sold so many more copies. I also sold a bunch of books in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

My last free giveaway was a success and gave my sales a huge boost. It was then that I decided to take a chance and raise my price back up to $1.99. And ... sales went down. I still did alright, but not as well as before. Plus, I didn't sell any copies overseas at that price.

I've kept my book at $1.99 for a few weeks just to see how it would do, but I've now decided to relist it once again at $.99. I'd like to eventually sell my work at a higher price, but as I said, I'm still a new author and I feel like I can make up for the cost with increased volume. It's now so easy for readers to get thousands of free books for their Kindles that I need to stay competitive and remember where I stand. I'm still at the bottom of the ladder in terms of author recognition. BAND GEEK is getting good reviews and readers are enjoying it, but it's not yet a bestseller. Until that time comes, I think I'm just going to keep it at 99 cents.

I'm not epxecting to get rich from my writing. I would like to make some money, but more than that I'd simply like to get my work out there. If pricing my book low is to way to do it -- for now -- then this is what I'll do to reach my goal.

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

Seasonal Success

One thing that I've learned from having various online ventures is that sales will ebb and flow according to the time of year. Since I have a few different businesses, each one seems to be peaking at a different time.

My jewelry sites went through a lull at the beginning of November. I was concerned about the sudden drop in sales, but when I asked some people in my jewelry class about it, they shrugged and assured me, "Oh, it's always slow early in the month. Don't worry, things will pick up around Thanksgiving." Sure enough, things indeed picked up around then and Etsy sales have been going really well since (knock on wood). It does make sense when you think about it; in early November, people are probably saving up to purchase holiday gifts and are holding off on spending for themselves. It's around Thanksgiving that the holiday season truly kicks off.

My writing sales also go through waves. I write articles for HubPages and though I make money from that pretty steadily, I always do really well around Christmas. I do have a lot of holiday-themed articles, but I also have articles relating to other holidays and seasons. I guess readers are more interested in finding about Christmas and Chanukah events than say, ones for Mother's Day, so the HubPages holiday season is good to me.

Unfortunately, December is turning out to be a slow month for sales of BAND GEEK. Since this is my first published novel, I'm still learning about the typical yearly sales patterns for books. I was really pleased with sales in October and November. Granted, I was doing the book tour in November, but I continued to sell well for a few weeks after it ended. It was a few days ago that things began to slow down for me. My guess is that with the holidays here, people are shopping, partying, cooking, wrapping presents and decorating their homes -- and aren't really taking the time out to read. What's helping me make sales on Etsy is hurting my book's numbers. I suspect, though -- I hope, anyway -- that once Christmas hits (and people receive Kindles!) my book sales will go back up. Of course, my Etsy sales will then drop, but I already know to be ready for that.

I'm just glad that I have businesses that do well at different times. I love what I do and am happy that I'm finding ways to make my job(s) work out.

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

Selling A Book On Kindle: What's Working For Me So Far

It's been less than a month since my ebook BAND GEEK became available for purchase on Kindle, but I'm gradually learning what works -- and what doesn't -- when it comes to making sales. I haven't been selling a ton of books, but I've been happy with my results so far. I figure that as my name gets out there and I get better at marketing myself, I'll make more sales. But here's what I've learned so far...

Twitter is way more useful than I'd previously thought. I'm not a huge fan of Twitter. Keeping up with everyone's tweets is exhausting and I only have so many hours in the day. But it HAS helped with sales. Every time I tweet about my book, at least one person buys a copy. Facebook has helped, as well, but mainly as a way to get friends of friends and old classmates to buy. Not bad for a skeptic!

Reviews are an absolute necessity. I now have five reviews on Amazon and a few on Goodreads... and my sales have gone up. At first, I sold a lot of copies because friends and family members were getting my book, but I'm past that point. Now it's strangers buying BAND GEEK. I'd still like to get more reviews, but I'm being patient. I'm thinking of signing up for an all-review blog tour, where I can get some professional reviews. Seems like a good idea.

Blogging is a great way to get fans and readers. I'm sure that this blog has gotten me some sales, as well. The trick is to blog often and keep it interesting. I'm trying to do that! I like to think of this blog as my book's "companion." If people like my writing here, they'll want to check out my book. Make sure to post your blog's entries on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Goodreads is a great resource and a great way to connect with potential fans and readers. I'm not the best at social networking, but I try to at least rate books and connect a little with my Goodreads friends. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people have BAND GEEK marked off as "plan to read." This is a site for avid readers so take advantage of that.

THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON THESE THINGS...

I signed up for publicity and advertising campaigns with several sites. One forgot to post my book and ended up giving me two bonus days. We'll see how it goes. With another, I signed up for a three-month publicity blitz. My page is up, but so far, it hasn't seemed to improve sales. Maybe that will take time. My Virtual Book Tour is happening right now. I can't judge that yet because I've only been featured on two blogs to date, but I really enjoyed writing guest blog posts -- so either way, I'm happy I signed up for it!

KDP Select Free Promotion -- I tried this once and sold hundreds of books. It definitely boosted my ranking and made more people aware of my book. But it hasn't brought too many reviews, at least not yet. I know that I need to be patient. I read very quickly and it's not fair to expect that of everyone else. I'll definitely try another promotion to see how that goes. The trick is to plan for it ahead of time and promote it like crazy.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK (AT LEAST FOR ME)

There are several "How To Get Rick On Kindle"-type books out there -- and I've found that they haven't been useful. One claimed that you don't need to social network and suggested some shady practices to get sales. I tried one of the less-offensive practices -- writing a review of another book and linking to mine ... and Amazon didn't like this. It removed my review soon after. Plus, I felt kind of icky doing that. For me, social networking HAS worked and I'm confident that my sales will pick up speed in time. The problem with books like this is that everyone's experiences are different. Marketing for a young adult book is much different than marketing, say, erotica. There are basic things that everyone can do to boost sales, but it's not one size fits all.

THE BIG PICTURE

Overall, marketing BAND GEEK is proving to be a full-time job. It is A LOT of work and I ain't getting' rich. One of my writer friends thought that Amazon does the marketing work for you and was shocked when I explained how much I'm doing on my own. But I am selling books and love that people are reading my work. That's ultimately what I wanr -- to have my writing seen and for readers to hopefully enjoy it! If I have to tweet my brains out to get that, so be it.

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

Next Stop On My Blog Tour

First things first: I am now back in New York City and am happy and grateful to report that we have power, food, WiFi, heat and water in our home. A lot are less fortunate and believe me, I don't take this for granted. I love my city and it hurts my heart to see it in such bad shape.

Still, we're slowly coming back to life. We managed to get a direct flight to JFK today and I was surprised by how, well, normal everything was. We landed on time. The runways were dry and not flooded at all. I expected chaos when we left, but there were plenty of taxis. Someone -- city workers and whomever else -- really did a great job in getting our area of Queens in shape. Now if we can start to rebuild those areas hardest hit...

Though Sandy is on my mind, I'm determined to get on with my life. So the next leg of my blog tour is at A BOOK SO FATHOMLESS. My post is about the challenges that come with writing teen characters when an author, like me, is pushing 40. Be sure to check it out and see how you can qualify for my special giveaway!

Meantime, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Publishing With KDP Select

After much thought, I've decided to enroll BAND GEEK in Kindle Direct Publishing's KDP Select program. Yes, you have to sell your ebook exclusively with them, but that contract is for only 90 days. Plus, you get five days during that period when you can sell your book for free.

Before making this decision, I read many articles from authors about their experience and most have been happy with the program. Many have seen sales take off after doing a freebie promotion. That said, I'm offering my first freebie promotion tomorrow. It's run for one day, Sunday, October 21. So make sure you check out BAND GEEK because I'm literally giving it away!

As I've said before, I'm not in this business for the money. I'll be happy if I can make a few thousand a year from writing. I'm really not expecting to get rich (though if I do, that will be very nice!). But I would like to get my work out there, have people read my words and be entertained. If doing a promotion like this helps with that then it will be worth losing some cash.

Please read and review my novel (for FREE on October 21!) REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

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!

Publishing On Amazon: The Importance Of Reviews

I'm sure you've noticed by now that I end each post asking readers to review my book on Amazon. I'm not doing this just so I can fish for compliments. Reviews can help make or break a sale.

Think about it: are you more likely to see a movie that's been reviewed or one that's gotten no notice? Sure, you can find out what it's about by going to the movie's website or by watching the trailer, but this is information that's put out by the studio. It's different when you read a review that's been put out by the masses.

Studies have actually been done to determine the effectiveness of reviews ... and well, they're very effective. I'll fully admit that I'm swayed by reviews. Two of my favorite sites to look at are menupages and tripadvisor, both which encourage people to share their experiences. I tend to look at the restaurants or hotels which have received the highest number of positive reviews. I feel like I'm getting the "real picture" when I hear what people like me had to say.

Reviews can also be helpful to an author. When I was shopping my book to agents and then publishers, I received many positive reviews ... and many critical ones. I found both to be useful. However, these were all opinions from people in the publishing industry who were looking at my book artistically and monetarily. Getting the opinion from someone who just wants to read a good book is a different story.

On Amazon, reviews can also help with rank. I don't quite understand how Amazon or Kindle ranks its books, but "active" pages are ranked higher. As I said before, reviews help prompt sales, which makes your book active ... and well, that moves it up to a spot where it can be seen more and get even more sales.

So whenever you download a book on Kindle -- mine or any other author's -- please take the time to review it. While I'd love to get all 5-star reviews, I'm realistic and know that not everyone is going to like my work. So if you dislike a book -- mine or another author's -- don't just say that you hated it and wanted to throw it out the window. At least take the time to say WHY you disliked it and what we can do to improve our next work.

Once again, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Selling An Ebook On Kindle

Writing my novel took 10 years of blood, sweat and tears, but actually selling my book on Kindle is a whole new challenge -- one that is admittedly frustrating so far.

I've had a lot of experience selling my work online. I have a jewelry shop, Naomi's Designs, on Etsy. I write for HubPages, another online enterprise. I sell my CD FLUTE PATH online. And I keep a jewelry blog. So I'm pretty familiar with tags, keywords and basic SEO.

Still, I've had mixed success with it. I've done fairly well in all of these things, but I've never been one of those people who's sold millions and millions of items, either. I'd love to do that with my book, though I'm realistic.

Right now, my book is still very new so it's waayyy in the back of Amazon's search engines. It's so frustrating. I've waited 10 years to see my novel in some form of print .... and now that it finally is, I have to patiently wait for it to be in a place where people can actually FIND my work. I've incorporated all of the SEO -- I've used all of my tags and am pretty secure in the categories for which I chose to place my book. I just have to wait and see. I really wish that I can get at least one good review because that would help a lot. Yes, my book has only been out for a week, but I wish I could jump ahead in time to when it's a big success, LOL.

Seriously, the two things I've learned from working online are a) you have to work really hard to get results. This means blogging, networking, doing whatever you can to get your product out there. And b) You need to be so patient. You won't find success overnight, mainly because it takes a while for your Web pages to get in the system. I'm still working on both!

Please check out and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.