Author Newsletter – September 2014

Sep9

If you’re not on Goodreads, I highly recommend it. If you are and don’t get the newsletter, here is one I received recently that lays out some important things to do before publication.

Plus read farther down. In the author interview, Chuck mentions reading the “recent status updates.” I never knew what this was, but now that I do, I will definitely be reading and commenting on those. (apparently, sometimes readers make commen

ts on Goodreads about books they are reading and those comments are stored here. And you can comment on those comments.) It’s another great way to connect to readers!

I can’t say enough good things about Goodreads, really. And I want to thank Amazon for not messing it with it too much since they purchased it recently. Hopefully they know a good thing when they see it (and leave it alone!)

Author Newsletter – September 2014.

Is Kindle Unlimited Bad for Authors?

Jul20

Have you heard about this new offering from Amazon. I have to agree with Mark here and just like KDP Select limits Indies options, so does this program. I like that KDP Select lets you opt out after a certain amount of time. I used it for one of my ebooks and opted out when I allowed to by the program. I think most authors do this. I don’t want to sell my book exclusively to anyone.

I have not gone into the details of this subscription service, but since it requires you to be in KDP Select to be a part of it, I’d read the fine print before I jumped into that boat as an author. As a reader, I don’t read on my nook enough to subscribe to any ebook subscription service, but that’s just me.

Smashwords: Is Kindle Unlimited Bad for Authors?.

Smashwords: 2014 Smashwords Survey Reveals New Opportunties for Indie Authors

Jul7

Mark Coker of Smashwords shares and sums up the results of his companies 2014 survey. I must read for any author looking to or in the self-publishing game.

Smashwords: 2014 Smashwords Survey Reveals New Opportunties for Indie Authors.

Who’s Afraid of Very Cheap Books?

Jun27

Here is David Gaughran’s view on cheap ebook pricing.

I definitely think it has it’s place, whether you use it for a new book or keep your first book in your book series permanently on sale, I think those are fine marketing strategies. I would not, however, discount all of my books. I think it does give the impression that the story is not worth it. But then again, I don’t think selling a ebook for over $6 is reasonable, either. They do take money and time to make, of course, but sharing an electronic file is the least inexpensive way to share your stories and the price should reflect that.

Who’s Afraid of Very Cheap Books? | David Gaughran.

Why Should Authors Post Reviews for Others?

Jun24

Besides the obvious reason of doing reviews if you expect other to do reviews for you, Sandy Appleyard shares some other good (marketing reasons) to post reviews online.

Click on this link and it will take you to Sandy’s post.
Thanks Sandy!

Nancy Drew Historical Fiction Giveaway!

Jun18

Since I am in the middle of this marketing stuff, trying to get my new book out there, I thought I’d share my next step in that direction – Goodreads Giveaway.

Having a book giveaway is a very simple way to promote your book and your name. If you aren’t an author on Goodreads, do it now. Goodreads is a wonderful site for authors and readers. It’s an easy way to connect with readers, bloggers, and fellow authors and is very user friendly.

Giveaways help in a few ways:
1) Get people to read (and hopefully) review your book.
The first giveaway I had I think I gave 5 books away. I got three nice reviews out of that (not guarantee you’ll get good reviews, mind you). I am going to giveaway 8 books this time and see if I can up my review rate.
2) You get people to put your book on their “to read” list.
This, of course, doesn’t mean they will actually read it, but you still have their contact information on Goodreads. You can then contact the folks who didn’t get a book and offer them a discounted book (Smashwords allows you to create coupons for ebook that you can discount to whatever percentage you desire.) Or just offer a free ebook in return for an honest review. I haven’t decided what direction I will go with that, myself.
3) It gets your name out there and any time you can do that and for only the cost of your time, do it!
4) It’s another way to reward your blog followers (if you have a blog) or website follows.
Followers are people you need to cultivate and thank.n Word of mouth is powerful! This is one easy way to do that.
5) A way to gain new followers.
If you’ve written a good book and someone reads it (via a book you send them) and they share that book or tell others about your book – Viola! New followers!
Yes, it costs you the price of how ever many books you’re giving away and shipping, but for all the reasons above and the ease of setting up the giveaway, it’s really a no-brainer launch, list must!

And, yes, if you want a chance at a free book, the link should work. Go ahead. Everyone likes free! And I’d love to hear from you! 😉

ckbooksblog

I don’t mean to inundate you with stuff about my Nancy Drew book, but I have to share this bit of news because it doesn’t cost a thing!

For those who would like a chance at a free, signed copy of my Nancy book, just click the Goodreads link below and sign up. I’m giving away 8 free copies between now and July 25th.
And if you’re not a Nancy fan, you might know someone who is, someone who would love to read about the inside (controversial) story being Nancy.

Retweet, face share or just tell your book friends about it too! Who doesn’t like free (no shipping cost or anything!)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Will the Real Carolyn Keene Please Stand Up

by Christine Keleny

Giveaway ends July 25, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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What is a galley, and why do you need one?

Jun10

from hansranum.blogspot.com

Thought I’d share this bit of information for those who aren’t sure what a galley or an ARC is and a link to some specifics. And I’m not talking about that kind of galley.

The post is written by Chris Robley, but I think Chris is a bit behind the times. I think a print galley is fine, but I’ve used ebook galleys a lot more often. It’s cheaper for the self-published author and most serious readers have ereaders anyway and like to use them.

Make sending out ebook galleys (and paper books if you like) part of your prelaunch list.

What is a galley, and why do you need one? – BookBaby Blog.

Smashwords: Hit the Ebook Bestseller Lists with Preorders – A Guide to Preorder Strategy

Jun4

If you are not planning on doing this for your next book launch, you need to add it to your do to list. It can be a wonderful way to push your book up in the sales list.

I am going to give it a go with my new book Will the Real Carolyn Keene Please Stand Up, which I plan to release June 30th. I’ll let you know how it goes. Amazon (and Smashwords, strangely enough) doesn’t allow people to order ahead but I created a work around using a Smashwords coupon code. It will require me to keep a running list of Kindle book requests, but I’m not worried about that, since I’ll have the posts on my blog to help me keep the names.

Just an FYI. I asked Amazon about presale for print books. They do do that, but it has to be 6 month from when the book is available. I’m not sure what indie author has a cover set over 6 months before launch. Not me!

Smashwords: Hit the Ebook Bestseller Lists with Preorders – A Guide to Preorder Strategy.

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I have attached my presale page so you can see what I came up with for additions to the sale to my new book.

Cover by Earl Keleny and selfpubbookcovers.com

Have you every wondered who came up with the clever, handy, intelligent and fashionable Nancy Drew?

Well now you can find out by reading “Will the Real Carolyn Keene Please Stand Up.”

It actually wasn’t one person who created Nancy, it was three, but there is some debate about even that.

The ebook is on pre-SALE for $2.99 now through June 30th! Come July 1 it will sell for $4.99

Barnes and Noble Apple ibookstore (and soon to be on Kobo presale!)

Note for Kindle Users: Amazon doesn’t do presales for ebooks, so if you have a Kindle and want to take advantage of this sale, leave me a comment to that effect on this post and I’ll give you a code for a discounted ebook come July 1 with the same extras as below depending on when you post your message.

But more than that!

IF YOU BUY THE EBOOK IN
Week 1: between June 1 – 7, and you sign up to get email notices from this blog
(or if you are already a fan of this blog and you tell me in a post that you referred a friend to this blog),
I will give you the paper version of the book for $10! (That’s 40% off the normal cover price of $16- shipping not included)

Week 2: between June 8th and 14th, if you write a review for this book on your favor book site and you send me a link to your review,
I will give you the paper version of the book for $10 and a free ebook of your choice! (That’s 40% off the normal cover price of $16- shipping not included)

Week 3: between June 15th and 21st, and you like my book facebook page (www.facebook.com/ckbooks), I will give you any one of my other ebooks absolutely FREE!

Week 4: between June 22nd and June 30th, if you tweet or share this book or this blog post on facebook, I will give you any one of my other ebooks absolutely FREE!

So tell your friends and pick up “Will the Real Carolyn Keene Please Stand Up” and find the true story behind the Nancy that everyone knows and loves.

Barnes and Noble Kobo Apple ibookstore

(note: the Kobo link is not up as of today, but I’ll add it as soon as it becomes live!)

How To Market Your Book To The Locals – Four Secrets

Apr18

Kristen Eckstein wrote this post on the Future of ink website and I think she made some very good points. I’ve done some of these very things, and I’m always coming across different local and state events (not necessarily just for books) that support local artists. I find that many artist events are willing to let self-published authors participate. Why not, we’re local, we are in on every aspect of the books creation (we don’t have to be the illustrator or editor to claim these things) and I personally think writing is an art. Ask anyone who loves to read but can’t write a good grocery list!