Novel update

[smock]

A huge thank you to everyone who checked out my novel, The Lion and the Fox, yesterday.

Because of you guys, I hit the top 10 on Amazon for Historical Italian Fiction! Trust me, I took a bunch of screenshots for posterity. So thank you all again!

And just because, here's the cover again. Mr. Smock designed it!
 


(And I apologize in advance if you see me posting on other boards in the next few days.)

[bex]

Woohoo!!! that's awesome!

[mrsukyankee]

Fabulous. Just downloaded it today.

[fatamy]

smock, Have you done any other advertising for the book through Amazon?
My book has had lots of pages read through kindle unlimited, but sales have been pretty low (I think 50-60 copies?) But I don't really want to throw out money to run an ad campaign because I have no clue how well they work.
Here's my book - Grand Prismatic www.amazon.com/Grand-Prismatic-Ashlee-Wetherington-ebook/dp/B01EPIK18I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1477586104&sr=1-1&keywords=grand+prismatic

[smock]

Oct 27, 2016 11:35:14 GMT -5 fatamy said:

smock , Have you done any other advertising for the book through Amazon?
My book has had lots of pages read through kindle unlimited, but sales have been pretty low (I think 50-60 copies?) But I don't really want to throw out money to run an ad campaign because I have no clue how well they work.
Here's my book - Grand Prismatic www.amazon.com/Grand-Prismatic-Ashlee-Wetherington-ebook/dp/B01EPIK18I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1477586104&sr=1-1&keywords=grand+prismatic

I haven't done any advertising through Amazon, so I'm not sure if it's worth it. I can ask my sister, who knows a lot more about advertising. She has done facebook ads, but she also has a pretty big following on facebook for her author's page. I've been doing a lot of promoting on twitter (for free, not paid ads), but I'm not sure how much it's helped sales.

I've also read that positive reviews make a huge difference with sales, but it's so hard to get people to review! My mom wrote a review, but Amazon took it down and sent me a scolding email since it's against their terms for family members to review your products (even though she bought the book, read the whole thing, and genuinely liked it!). I've been contacting bloggers who are willing to review for a few copy, which was a tip from my sister.

[fatamy]

Oct 27, 2016 11:42:18 GMT -5 smock said:

Oct 27, 2016 11:35:14 GMT -5 fatamy said:

smock , Have you done any other advertising for the book through Amazon?
My book has had lots of pages read through kindle unlimited, but sales have been pretty low (I think 50-60 copies?) But I don't really want to throw out money to run an ad campaign because I have no clue how well they work.
Here's my book - Grand Prismatic www.amazon.com/Grand-Prismatic-Ashlee-Wetherington-ebook/dp/B01EPIK18I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1477586104&sr=1-1&keywords=grand+prismatic

I haven't done any advertising through Amazon, so I'm not sure if it's worth it. I can ask my sister, who knows a lot more about advertising. She has done facebook ads, but she also has a pretty big following on facebook for her author's page. I've been doing a lot of promoting on twitter (for free, not paid ads), but I'm not sure how much it's helped sales.

I've also read that positive reviews make a huge difference with sales, but it's so hard to get people to review! My mom wrote a review, but Amazon took it down and sent me a scolding email since it's against their terms for family members to review your products (even though she bought the book, read the whole thing, and genuinely liked it!). I've been contacting bloggers who are willing to review for a few copy, which was a tip from my sister.

I've also had a few friend/family reviews turned down - it stinks!
I might email some bloggers, it's worth a shot! I used to have a cooking blog and a healthy living blog so maybe I can touch base with some of those women and see if they'll read and plug for me. 

I think I remember someone on GOMI mentioning Facebook ads being really effective... I just don't want to be out money since this is a hobby not a job. I do well with the kindle unlimited royalties and I like the idea of people being able to read for free (even though they're really not) so if anyone is reading - you can read my book free with kindle unlimited ;-) 

[smock]

Oct 27, 2016 11:47:13 GMT -5 fatamy said:

Oct 27, 2016 11:42:18 GMT -5 smock said:

I haven't done any advertising through Amazon, so I'm not sure if it's worth it. I can ask my sister, who knows a lot more about advertising. She has done facebook ads, but she also has a pretty big following on facebook for her author's page. I've been doing a lot of promoting on twitter (for free, not paid ads), but I'm not sure how much it's helped sales.

I've also read that positive reviews make a huge difference with sales, but it's so hard to get people to review! My mom wrote a review, but Amazon took it down and sent me a scolding email since it's against their terms for family members to review your products (even though she bought the book, read the whole thing, and genuinely liked it!). I've been contacting bloggers who are willing to review for a few copy, which was a tip from my sister.

I've also had a few friend/family reviews turned down - it stinks!
I might email some bloggers, it's worth a shot! I used to have a cooking blog and a healthy living blog so maybe I can touch base with some of those women and see if they'll read and plug for me. 

I think I remember someone on GOMI mentioning Facebook ads being really effective... I just don't want to be out money since this is a hobby not a job. I do well with the kindle unlimited royalties and I like the idea of people being able to read for free (even though they're really not) so if anyone is reading - you can read my book free with kindle unlimited ;-) 

I did spent $10 on a Facebook ad, and got maybe 20 likes but only 2 clicks on my link. So, totally not worth it. Maybe I didn't write a great ad, or maybe I didn't target the ad very well, but it was discouraging. I really didn't realize how much time and energy indie authors have to put into marketing and promotion. It's definitely not the fun part of writing!

[fatamy]

Oct 27, 2016 11:52:02 GMT -5 smock said:

Oct 27, 2016 11:47:13 GMT -5 fatamy said:

I've also had a few friend/family reviews turned down - it stinks!
I might email some bloggers, it's worth a shot! I used to have a cooking blog and a healthy living blog so maybe I can touch base with some of those women and see if they'll read and plug for me. 

I think I remember someone on GOMI mentioning Facebook ads being really effective... I just don't want to be out money since this is a hobby not a job. I do well with the kindle unlimited royalties and I like the idea of people being able to read for free (even though they're really not) so if anyone is reading - you can read my book free with kindle unlimited ;-) 

I did spent $10 on a Facebook ad, and got maybe 20 likes but only 2 clicks on my link. So, totally not worth it. Maybe I didn't write a great ad, or maybe I didn't target the ad very well, but it was discouraging. I really didn't realize how much time and energy indie authors have to put into marketing and promotion. It's definitely not the fun part of writing!

I read that one girl makes short movies for her ads and the movies do way better than written ads. But I have zero skills there.

Did you look into the Kindle Scout program? I think I might try that for my next novel. Seems like it's worth a try?

[smock]

Oct 27, 2016 11:57:11 GMT -5 fatamy said:

Oct 27, 2016 11:52:02 GMT -5 smock said:

I did spent $10 on a Facebook ad, and got maybe 20 likes but only 2 clicks on my link. So, totally not worth it. Maybe I didn't write a great ad, or maybe I didn't target the ad very well, but it was discouraging. I really didn't realize how much time and energy indie authors have to put into marketing and promotion. It's definitely not the fun part of writing!

I read that one girl makes short movies for her ads and the movies do way better than written ads. But I have zero skills there.

Did you look into the Kindle Scout program? I think I might try that for my next novel. Seems like it's worth a try?

I've heard video ads are really effective, but I also have very few skills in that area, and I'm not willing to pay someone else to make an ad. 

Kindle Scout sounds interesting, but I think it really depends on how much Amazon promotes your book. It sounds like they give you 50% of ebook sales, versus 70% if you self-publish and price at $2.99 or higher. That extra 20% cut might totally be worth it if Amazon takes care of marketing. Maybe I'll consider it with one of my future novels--I have a few more in the works!

[secretlyevil]

Tell your H, the cover is awesome. I'm about 5% into the book.

[eponinepontmercy]

Another friend who is a published author always asked people to rate her books on Goodreads, too. I don't usually write Amazon reviews beyond clicking on stars, but I'll write one for you.

I mean, if I like it. 

[secretlyevil]

Oct 27, 2016 12:14:59 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

Another friend who is a published author always asked people to rate her books on Goodreads, too. I don't usually write Amazon reviews beyond clicking on stars, but I'll write one for you.

I mean, if I like it. 

Oh I marked this as currently reading. I will actually write a review instead of just stars.

[smock]

Thanks eponinepontmercy and secretlyevil--I mean, assuming you LIKE it!

I did give my book 5 stars on goodreads. I'm also the person who sometimes "likes" my own posts on here. What can I say? I'm a big fan of myself.

[pixy0stix]

This has nothing to do with the book itself, but rather my own reading preferences... I keep waiting for the magical creature to appear and/or some romance fraught with forbidden passion. LOL! It's really weird to read a non-urban fantasy where the main character is married.

[zelda25]

Hey, smock--just wanted to thank you for sharing these; I read The Lion and the Fox yesterday (all of it. yesterday) and enjoyed it very much! I'll be adding your other one to my Kindle soon.

[sweetcheeks]

Congrats! I'm about two thirds of the way through it and really enjoying it.

[smock]

Jan 9, 2017 15:55:55 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

Hey, smock--just wanted to thank you for sharing these; I read The Lion and the Fox yesterday (all of it. yesterday) and enjoyed it very much! I'll be adding your other one to my Kindle soon.

Thanks, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! If you're willing, I'd really appreciate a review on Amazon!

[smock]

Jan 9, 2017 16:15:17 GMT -5 sweetcheeks said:

Congrats! I'm about two thirds of the way through it and really enjoying it.

Oooh it's about to get really good! Don't want to spoil anything.

[rupertpenny]

smock I just finished the Zorzi affair and it was great! I love Italian historical fiction so please keep them coming 

[smock]

Jan 9, 2017 19:31:26 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

smock I just finished the Zorzi affair and it was great! I love Italian historical fiction so please keep them coming 

Thanks! The next one is a little different--it's the Salem witch trials retold in the style of Mean Girls. I'm having so much fun writing it!

And if you're willing, I'd appreciate a review on Amazon!

[rupertpenny]

Jan 9, 2017 19:46:07 GMT -5 smock said:

Jan 9, 2017 19:31:26 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

smock I just finished the Zorzi affair and it was great! I love Italian historical fiction so please keep them coming 

Thanks! The next one is a little different--it's the Salem witch trials retold in the style of Mean Girls. I'm having so much fun writing it!

And if you're willing, I'd appreciate a review on Amazon!

I wrote my first ever Amazon review for The Lion and the Fox and I will write one for the Zorzi affair as well. 

[Mrs.Rad888]

Do you have any input on who carries your books? I just looked, and they're not available on Nook. I'll definitely read them if/when they become available for my Nook.

[smock]

Jan 9, 2017 20:01:47 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Jan 9, 2017 19:46:07 GMT -5 smock said:

Thanks! The next one is a little different--it's the Salem witch trials retold in the style of Mean Girls. I'm having so much fun writing it!

And if you're willing, I'd appreciate a review on Amazon!

I wrote my first ever Amazon review for The Lion and the Fox and I will write one for the Zorzi affair as well. 

Thank you so much!

[aurora]

Jan 9, 2017 19:46:07 GMT -5 smock said:

Jan 9, 2017 19:31:26 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

smock I just finished the Zorzi affair and it was great! I love Italian historical fiction so please keep them coming 

Thanks! The next one is a little different--it's the Salem witch trials retold in the style of Mean Girls. I'm having so much fun writing it!

And if you're willing, I'd appreciate a review on Amazon!

That sounds interesting. Let us know when it's published!

[smock]

Jan 9, 2017 21:39:49 GMT -5 Mrs.Rad888 said:

Do you have any input on who carries your books? I just looked, and they're not available on Nook. I'll definitely read them if/when they become available for my Nook.

I do--right now they're exclusively on Amazon, but I'm planning to list them on other ebook sites (B&N, Kobo, ibooks). Amazon makes up about 70% of the market, so a lot of authors just use them. Plus, Amazon encourages a 90-day exclusive contract, to drum up books for their Kindle Unlimited offers. But when the 90 days expires, both novels will be available on Nook. 

So look for The Lion and the Fox later this month, and The Zorzi Affair in March!

[smock]

Jan 10, 2017 9:44:20 GMT -5 aurora said:

Jan 9, 2017 19:46:07 GMT -5 smock said:

Thanks! The next one is a little different--it's the Salem witch trials retold in the style of Mean Girls. I'm having so much fun writing it!

And if you're willing, I'd appreciate a review on Amazon!

That sounds interesting. Let us know when it's published!

You know I will!