Winning in Amazon's KDP Select Program: PART 2

Questions are great. I love questions. Sometimes I learn more when someone asks me about a topic that I am passionate about. And yesterday a writer friend asked a very pointed question. This is exactly what she asked:

"Jeff why is it better for authors with fewer books to stay on KDP Select? Sorry, but I don't get it." - anonymous

Well, naturally I told her to come to The Writing Bomb for details. But I also typed the following reply with my phone… talk about an auto-correct nightmare! Anyway, I realized that if one person asks a question than there are probably dozens more with the same quandary.

Anyway, here's my answer to her question:

"Why is it better for newer authors to stay with KDP select?"

The reason is simple. No one knows who you are, and no other online book retailer will help promote you like Amazon... hands down.

Take any first time indie or small press author, drop their book into all online ebook stores and they will all sink to the bottom unless that author continues to write book after book, and promote heavily, and still may not sell much. Most new authors continue to promote heavily, trying to force their dream of mass sales and book signings, waiting, hoping for the magic to happen, and it rarely does. 

Why? Because no one knows who you are! Not you personally, but the rhetorical you, the unknown author, the first timer who isn't famous, who doesn't have 50,000 twitter fans, a platinum album, or staring in a sitcom. 

Amazon knows this, and so in order to create a marketplace where their author's are committed to them for the long haul, they created a system (that was already in place and effective) and offered it as an "on-demand" promotional tool for author's who publish exclusively with Amazon (KDP) -- a reward if you will. 

The reward is on demand promotion (1-5 days to sell your book(s) for free, renewable every 90 days) that can be targeted and controlled. It's the perfect answer to the unknown author. The author can give away thousands of copies (15,000+ is a good free promo result, and my average for my novels,  a drop in the bucket in terms of  millions of kindle readers). 

But why would an author want to give away so many books? Simple. When you give that many copies away, two things happen (the magic): 

 1. Readership Explosion: With KDP Select, a new author can grow a following at a rate never before possible, and will garner far more reviews than with sales that trickle in under normal circumstances. How is this possible? Visibility, my friend… visibility in the free store. Heck, I even sell more print copies during a freebie promo. 

 2. Consistent Sales Bump: Amazon treats free downloads like sales, thereby placing the author's book cover across their site in places like the "customers who bought this also bought" section below other books purchased by those who downloaded the free book, and often in the same genre. The residual promotion that Amazon provides is of course relative to the number of books downloaded during the free promotion. 

Here's the trick (well, one of them): Do this enough times and you start to target your audience because your book is consistently landing in your pre-selected category lists in the free store. Then, when you get the visibility from being in a category list, your sales can grow organically within days of returning to the "paid" store. 

Example: Twisted Vengeance garnered 18,427 downloads in my Sept. 2012 freebie promo. I scheduled the promo for 3 days, but kept it going one more day because I was #5 in the free store for 2 days straight and didn't want to stop the momentum. Two days later, Twisted was ranked #800 something in the paid store, selling very well. I raised my price back to $2.99 and made a few bucks. 

Now, what just happened besides giving away 18,000 books? 

1. Audience Growth: I gained a lot more readers from that promotion, as reflected in my post freebie reviews, and Facebook likes that came in after the promo. Not everyone who downloaded the book will read it, or like it for that matter, and that's okay. But you can be sure, there is a greater probability that I will gain a higher number of fans with 18K downloads than with 500 organic purchases.

2. Additional Sales Lift: The wheels that started spinning during my free promo continued after the "sale". NOTE: Free books don't add as much weight in Amazon's algorithms as a paid book (hence hitting #5 in free store vs. #800 in the paid), but that's okay, too. Amazon rewards sales with visibility. So if you continue to  promote with KDP Select every 90 days, getting that regular sales bump, and adjusting your price with the ebb and flow of your ranking (99¢ when your sales are down, and $2.99 or more when sales are up), your sales should continue to grow -- even more so if you continue to publish additional books. Why? Because every bump throws your book on more book pages, and then you fade, but then you bump up. Long term (1 year for me), it is working like a healthy looking Stock Market graph… slowly rising with dips and spikes, but consistently increasing sales. 

KDP Select gives you free promotion from the largest book retailer in the world! And the results improve with every new book. Why? Because not only can I lift my ranking using price decreases as an incentive (promotional tool), but I can also promote with targeted free days with multiple titles. That gives me two methods of attracting readers with every 90-day cycle. So if you have 2 books, that's 4 free promotional tools. If you have 3 books, that's 6 free promotional opportunities, and so on.

Like I always say, "books sell books". Unfortunately, many freshman Author's think their book will sell on the merit of quality. Sometimes that happens with luck, but rarely. There are over a million kindle books now. A million! Geesh!

Do you see the advantage of hitting the top #20 or #100 in the free store? Thanks to KDP Select, I have sat above, beside, and directly under Stephen King and Koontz. But get this, I am a nobody in terms of the world wide publishing industry. The name Jeff Bennington means very little to the vast majority of readers, and yet my "free book" promotions have placed my name and book covers in places I never thought possible. 

This program can market a relatively unknown like a big name author. With KDP Select, I beat out Heather Graham (Big time author in ghost category) often, because my promotions with KDP Select help boost me up there with the big boys and girls. This program can truly be the great equalizer for new authors, even if you only have one amazing book. And no other platform, with the exception of Kobo is doing anything like this.

Amazon has so many promotional tools to help market authors, it isn't funny! Take a look at some of these marketing tools they use: Bestsellers List, Hot New Release list, Movers and Shakers, Top Rated lists, Gift Idea lists, Top-100 Category lists, Tags,  "If you like" lists, "So you want to" lists, and Top Rated Author List (New: I'm currently #44 in Horror). 

The truth is… if you have 10 titles it's easier for readers to find you. And an author with that many books has probably grown his or her platform over the course of time anyway. But when you only have one or two titles, like most authors out there, KDP Select is the only program that can accelerate the long, time draining process of finding your readers.

Other sites list your book(s) for sale, but when you partner with the biggest book retailer in the world, and they are willing to help you find your audience, and sell your books, you get a much higher return, relative to what the other stores can do for you. And like all programs, there are a variety of variables that can impact one's success (cover art, reviews, product description, sample, book length, etc). And of course, there is always the exception, and a time for an author to pull out when they have outgrown the program. But in general, after one year with Select, I'm still very excited about KDP Select's power to promote.

By the way… REUNION is free Oct 28 - 30th during my little "Halloween Haunted Giveaway"

Jeff Bennington (@TweetTheBook) is the best-selling author of Reunion, Twisted Vengeance, Creepy, and Creepy 2, and The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe. Creepy 3 is coming soon!

eBook Pricing is Driving Kindle Readers to Indie Authors!

If you think that indie authors are just driving down the price of ebooks, think again.

What's really happening is that 99¢ and $2.99 ebooks are driving readers to INDIE AUTHORS.

I recently read a newsletter from Steve Windwalker, the founder of Kindle Nation Daily where he listed the results from their annual survey. If you're an indie author or a reader, you'll want to listen up because Steve discovered that ebook pricing is changing the habits of kindle readers… in a good way. 

If you love facts and figures, you'll love this article, especially the full report. But if numbers make you cringe, I'll try to give you a few of the highlights, although I just can't do the report justice with a short post. 

In a nut shell, Steve sent out his Kindle Nation Citizen Survey to his many followers and 2,360 readers responed. I don't know how much you know about statistics but 2,360 is an impressive response by any scientific standard. So please do not shrug off these results; they could be very important to you. 

Below are a few of the results of this survey. These results show the current trends in ebook pricing and reader preferences regarding what they are reading. And just so you know, I'm a huge proponent of the 99¢-$3.99 price point strategy and I tell you why in my book, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe. I also tell you how to use a pricing strategy I call, Floatation Pricing. This method is very helpful in not only getting you a higher ranking, but could get you closer to Amazon's Top 100. 

I'm also a huge believer in the Amazon KDP Select program. I believe authors have a unique opportunity to reach the Top 100 thanks to the Select "free promotion", so this report is also valuable in understanding where you should spend your marketing time and resources.

After reading this report, you'll want to find out what I think about ebook marketing. I've written a clear, and so far, effective marketing plan in The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe, so I am glad to report that my ideas about promoting books are in line with the results of this survey.

Here are a few snippets that might interest you…. 

Survey Results: 
(taken directly from the newsletter)

Statement #1:

"Higher prices for new releases from big publishers have driven me to try more and more indie authors, and I like what I have found.

Results:

61% agreed with that statement, and only 14% disagreed. Just to make sure, we also flipped the statement.

Statement #2:

Higher prices for new releases from big publishers have driven me to try some indie authors but I haven't found much quality there so I have gone back to paying higher prices.

Results: 

Only 7% agreed with that statement, and a whopping 65% disagreed."

That's good news for indie authors! We are making a difference. But don't stop working hard; we still have 35% more to go!

Here are some other results…

"Among our survey respondents, sources such as newspaper, magazine book reviews, and mentions on the electronic media are less and less influencial. Just 8% of our respondents are driven to buy ebooks once a month or more from these influences. How about brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries? You see a book on display and download the ebook, right? Not so much. Only 9% of our respondants are driven to buy ebooks once a month or more by these influences."

~ 11% of the respondents buy ebooks once a month or more based on the influences of friends, colleagues and relatives.

~ 17% say they buy ebooks after noticing them on the best-seller list! 

WOW! That is important news for indie authors; not only in how readers view us, but also in helping us plan our attack. There are more stats, but these really stuck out in my mind. 


I highly recommend you read this article. 


But before you do, I suggest grabbing a copy of my newly released book, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe so you'll know how to apply these statistics and what they mean to you as an author. The survey is the "what" and the book is the "what now?"

Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion, and Creepy
The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe is only $3.99 on Amazon for a limited time for my readers!

 

Writing About The Dark Side of Humanity

"Stop it! You're hurting her!"

Those words cut to the core of my being.
Chilling words aren't they?
I can imagine the scene. I can hear the slap, the thud, tumbling chairs and pretty little things breaking.

When it comes to domestic abuse, I want to make the big bad abuser feel 10x the pain that has been doled out.

At the very least, I need to write about it.

As a novelist, my imagination has a funny way of taking the things in life that don't make sense and turning them into stories. When it comes to abusers I've managed to weave them into two of my novels, Reunion and Twisted Vengeance. The first time I did this, the abuse was threaded into the backstory of a troubled teen. Most recently, I not only built a storyline around domestic violence, but created themes and subplots that damage the people in the story, giving them scars from their past, and obstacles to overcome.

My immediate family has many stories to tell about abuse, both physical and sexual, so I know a little about what it means to hurt, even decades after the abuse has stopped. Hence, cutting to the core of my being. I hate abuse. I hate the cycles it produces. Fortunately, it can stop.

I've had hands-on-experience with an abuser. I watched him hurt his family and listened to the never ending, "I'm sorry", "I love you", "I've changed", "Can you forgive me?" bull crap, only to see it happen again, and again.

I feel called to tell the dark stories that lie beneath the surface, and to tell the stories of real people, with real pain, with no voice. Of course I want to entertain. Of course I want to create substance, and a compelling read. But I have a strong conviction to tell the tales that are often overlooked, disregarded, misjudged, and forgotten.

The wounded, the molested, the bruised, and neglected. These are the stories that you hear about on the news, but only the cases that are discovered and manage to hit the headlines. Rarely are they they extreme cases. Little do we know that abuse of all kinds is running rampant. There are women, teens, girls and boys in your neighborhood right now who are silently suffering from physical, psychological and sexual abuse. There are parents who are "done with their kids", "had enough" and ready to sign them over to the state, and families that are disintegrating because the pain of abuse is misunderstood.

Teens are hiding their hurt. Boys and girls down the street feel ashamed and wonder if they are to blame.

So of all the things I could write about, why this? Why write about something I hate? Why write about a topic that we'd rather not think about? My answer: because it is necessary, because we cannot forget, because turning a blind eye is wrong.

Conflict is in the center of every good book. At the heart of conflict is the protagonist's inner conflict that drives his or her greatest desires. And at the heart of every writer is a need to tell the truth about life, to reveal secrets, to expose societies, and to heal people who are broken inside.

Twisted Vengeance is that kind of story. There are twists and turns and mysterious characters. No one is who you think they are, and no one is innocent until the truth is revealed; much like the society we live in. But there is more to this tale. There is life. There is pain. There is vengeance. And there is truth. And the truth is... sometimes life sucks; sometimes life doesn't make sense; sometimes we want to grab a shot gun and blow the balls off the sons-of-bitches that hurt the innocent.

This why I can never stop writing. Communicating these messages is a labor of love for me. Telling the truth about the human race through twisted plot lines and dark villains is just too important, and too much fun. How could I ever do anything else?

That's all. Sometimes I have to vent. Sometimes I have to rage. And sometimes I write a damn good story.

You can read reviews Here.

Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion, and Creepy
The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe will be available on 2-25

 

How to Have a Successful KDP Select Campaign.

Are you Planning a KDP Select Promo Soon?

If you plan to promote your book through Amazon's KDP Select "Free" promotion, you can potentially receive exposure that is equivalent to a billboard standing in the middle of Times Square in New York City, or you might not.

There are several factors that can influence how well or how poorly your book fares when given such an incredible opportunity. Because the response to a promotion can vary from one title to the next, it is very important that you get everything right BEFORE you set your book loose. If you nail all of these elements, you will have a greater shot at success. If you are lacking in some or all of these elements, you might not experience the boost in sales/readership that you are hoping for.

The following is a list of key elements that will effect your biggest and best opportunity to FINALLY get noticed on the world stage:

• Your Book Cover is the very first thing readers see, so it only stands to reason that it better be AWESOME. Unfortunately, many self-published authors have an unprofessional looking cover, yet expect professional results. Your cover needs to grab a reader's attention, draw them in, or create enough curiosity to earn a "click". If your book cover is lame or screams "self-published" you might get far fewer clicks than if you spent a little bit of money on a sweet cover. And in the world of KDP Select promotions, a loss of clicks can mean a loss of several hundred to several thousand dollars. So it is definitely worth the expense.

• Your Book Blurb is your sales pitch, and you don't have much time to convince a book buyer to spend their dime on you. With so many books for free, and at affordable prices, your product description should be catchy, to the point, and professional. If you have misspelled words, or the layout of your product description is sloppy, too long, too short, or has bad formatting, a reader might assume that the book has similar issues. An ideal book description should include at least two quality reviews that build immediate credibility, followed by a brief, accurate, and compelling product description.

• Your Price Point is critical. I mention pricing in my forthcoming book, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe, in detail. But my opinion of book pricing has nothing to do with the value of your book, it has to do with the size of your audience. Therefore, if you're a newer author, and if you do not have many reviews, or awards, I would not recommend pricing your book over $2.99 during a KDP promotion. Unless your book really catches fire, a newer author is at risk of losing sales when over priced. In fact, check out the top 100; you'll notice that there are more low priced books than ever before.

• Reviews sell books. The more you have, the more credibility you will have with your potential buyers. If you have very few reviews, you might not sell near as many books with your free promotion than if you had 10, 20, or more quality reviews. Likewise, if you have received poor reviews, there is a greater chance that you might not experience the same success as some authors have had with KDP Select. If you need more reviews, check out The Kindle Book Review among other sites. You can always solicit reviews from book bloggers.
• Layer your Marketing. The Select free promotion is the best shot you may have to get your book promoted on a world stage. You have to throw everything you've got into this promotion. I recommend scheduling multiple promotions on the day, and days following the moment your book returns to the "paid" store. I discuss the concept of Marketing Layering in detail and provide a few websites that will coordinate this effort in my book.

So here's the deal: You have 90 days to use your 5 free days with KDP Select. If you are lacking in any of the elements listed above, I'd urge you to utilize your time and resources to get as many of these points nailed down BEFORE you offer your book for free. If you don't, you could get a whole bunch of nothing from what I consider one of the best promotional opportunities in the history of publishing.

IF YOU NEED HELP, go to my my Author Services Page. I got skills.

Finally, I am officially doing a soft release of my publishing imprint, NexGate Press. It's been here for over a year, quietly sneaking up on the publishing industry, and it's getting ready to pounce. PLEASE spread the word! You can learn more here.

Layer Your Book Marketing Efforts for Better Results

Welcome back to The Writing Bomb. I'm posting another excerpt from The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe, and I hope you find my marketing strategy helpful. The following information helped propel me to the Amazon Top 100 in December 2011. I hope it works for you as well. 

My Favorite Marketing Strategy

One of my favorite strategies in my marketing plan is layering. Layering is the process of adding promotions in sequence. In other words, before you pay money to Kindle Nation Daily, schedule a giveaway, immediately followed by a two or three day blog hop, followed by a killer blog post at your blog, followed by a two day KDP Select giveaway. Then, wrap up your marketing blitz with a paid promotion from Digit Book Today, The Kindle Book Review, or Kindle Nation Daily, after you’ve invested some time in a series of free promotions.

Be sure to keep all of these events well publicized through Twitter and Facebook.

As I mentioned earlier, marketing isn’t about a single promotion and it isn’t always about money. Good promotion is about getting your book cover as much face time as possible. Stacking your promotions will help elevate your book into the public eye. 

When I think of layering, I imagine a video game character, like Mario, jumping on a gear that propels him upward, only to land on another gear that shoots him to another gear, and so on. The idea is that each gear lifts him higher with each spin of the cogs, getting him closer to that giant mushroom in the sky. You may or may not want a bucket of golden mushrooms, but you do want to get closer to readers and that's what layering has the potential of accomplishing.

The reason I like this strategy is because it works, and because it can make your paid promotions more effective. Layering your promotions is better than spending money on an ad, hoping that a single marketing tool will bring an onslaught of sales. Sites like Kindle Nation Daily have a pretty good track record, but just think how much more effective that ad could be if you raised your Amazon ranking from 80,000 to 25,000 the day before your ad went live. An ad with KND will do a better job if you work hard at getting your sales up before the ad starts. 

It’s not just important to sell more books. It’s important that you get your book on category bestseller lists where there are more eyes watching. These lists will lead you to the readers looking for your genre and your price point. 

Do whatever it takes to get there, because once you're there, the attention can hold you up for an extended period of time, even after the ad has expired. If you don't hit a category list, you'll drop out of sight much faster.

Don’t depend on others to work their marketing magic with your book. You have to do your part. And the more you can do prior to a paid promotion, the greater chance you’ll have of selling!

In the weeks prior to hitting the Amazon top 100, I paid for a featured ad with The 99 Cent Networks Twelve Day's of Christmas promo that ran from December 12th to December 24th. During the course of that promotion, I wrote a couple killer blog posts here at The Writing Bomb. I also placed Reunion on The Kindle Book Review’s marquee banner during the month of December. Finally, I scheduled my first two free book promotion days with Amazon’s KDP Select. The result, thanks to Lady Luck, was the #55 spot in Amazon’s paid best-seller list. I spent $50 for each of my books to be entered in the IBC promo, but the rest was free. I used every aspect of my platform, layering each step with tweets and Facebook notifications. It cost me a few bucks, and a few hours of my time, but the pay off far exceeded the expense.

Are you sequencing your marketing? Or are you trudging through individual promotions, separated by large blocks of time? The next time you schedule a paid promotion, try layering a sequence of free promotions and see what happens. Your book is hungry for mushrooms. It's time you shoot it into the sky where it belongs.

~ Jeff Bennington is the Amazon bestselling author of Reunion, Twisted Vengeance and Creepy

Why No One Is Buying Your Book

The following is an excerpt from The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe:

Why No One is Buying Your Book

Have you stared at your book ranking, and sales data, and wondered why no one is reading your work? Are you disappointed that your story hasn't caught fire, or hit USA Today's front page?

If you answered yes, I want to share a secret with you. I want to tell you something, and it might hurt your feelings. I don't mean to be cruel, but I have to be honest.

No one has ever heard of you.

Readers do not know that you exist.

That can change, but for now, you have to know the truth. You have to face the stark reality that you're not famous, you don't have a cult following, and you're not a New York Times bestseller, yet.

One of the biggest obstacles for indie and small press authors to overcome is finding readers. You may have a great book cover, and your prose may be razor sharp, but lets face it, you are one in a million. Hundreds of thousands of books are published every year, and as a new/newer author, it's not likely that readers will search your name or title.

Sigh.

Depressing isn't it? Well, it can be, if you're subject to resignation. But if you are the type of person who sees an obstacle as an opportunity, you may have what it takes to climb out of the literary abyss and into the public arena.

The problem with publishing is that unless you have a platform, or a method to reach out to readers, you are like a grain of sand on the beach. People will walk on you all day long, but never know you're there. If you publish on Amazon, your book is thrown into the ocean of ebooks and will splash around until readers start buying. When they purchase your book, it'll stay close to shore where other readers can see it. But if you don't plan for a beach party upon publication, your book will drift off to sea and eventually end up in the south pacific, stranded on a lifeless island. 

If you publish on Barnes & Noble's Pubit!, iTunes, or Smashwords, it's even harder to get noticed because the sheer weight of new books will push you deeper into the water.

So what can you do? What does it take to lift your book above the crowd and get the notoriety you deserve? Good question. When I have the secret formula, I'll bottle it and sell it to ya for a thousand dollars per ounce. Until then, it helps to know that you are not being flat out rejected by the world, but rather, unseen. Understand that, and embrace it. Knowledge goes a long way when you are problem solving. Don't take it personally. Accept your reality and work to improve your position in the crowd.

You need to figure out how you're going to be an author that readers recognize. You have to build a platform. You have to brand yourself. You have to go into the big world, put on a pair of stilts and start shouting, "Hey, everyone, look over here! I write suspense novels with jaw-dropping twists. Anyone interested?" When you do that, someone will turn around and say yes. If you wrote a good book, they might recommend it to someone else. They could also write a review and encourage others to buy. But don't stop there. You have to keep walking clumsily through the crowd, hand selling your work to readers, bloggers, and reviewers everywhere. 

If you're no good with stilts, try the trapeze. If that doesn't work, hop on a unicycle or put on a clown suit. You may not get it right the first time around, but with a little trial and error, you'll discover what works and what doesn't. Just remember, what works for me may not work for you. I'm a lion tamer and that's somewhat daunting to the vast majority, so I wouldn't recommend it. Besides, you could lose your head.

Getting noticed, especially when you only have one book published, can be a slow process, more so if you are not actively building your platform. The truth is, there is no quick answer to growing an audience. Building an author brand/platform takes time, it takes multiple books and it takes creativity. 

If you look at the top right-hand side of this blog, you'll notice that I recently hit four-hundred followers. I'm excited about that because several months ago I didn't think I'd reach one hundred. Four hundred looks like a lot, but there are other blogs with a whole lot more subscribers than I have. There is always a bigger duck in the pond. But don't compare yourself to anyone else. Take an honest assessment of where you are and chart a realistic course that will keep the wind to your back, blowing you toward shore where the readers are. You might hit a sand bar on occasion, but that's okay. Authors wearing clown suits, splashing around in the ocean are likely to get a little attention.

~ Jeff Bennington, author of Reunion, an Amazon bestselling supernatural thriller.

Indie Authors: Past and Present

In the not so distant past, indie authors were all about print books, and in some circles they still are. Back in the day (as in what seems like yesterday) we had to write our book, get it printed and then hand sell that puppy to any chain store or mom and pop outfit that was kind enough to put our books on consignment.

That is so yesterday.

If you are venturing into the wide world of self-publishing, and plan to get your book in stores I would urge you to stop. Please stop. You are wasting valuable energy. The phone calls, the Saturdays wasted on "Self-pubbed" book signings that at most sell a dozen copies must end. You are wasting time, and losing money—lots of money.

Independent authors need to understand something, and this is my opinion based on my experience; print books have made a turn. They, as in your books, only want to see your family, friends, reviewers who have bad eyes, and that occasional peep who can't seem to get over their love for the smell of paper.

Your book wants to be in print, but only for the chosen few, and, so you can hold it in your hand. After that, it doesn't ever want to see you again. It wants to be free. It wants to see the world. It wants to drink tea in the UK and walk under the Eiffel Tower and visit as many German breweries as possible. That's what your book wants.

You are not the Olsen twins or Ozzie or Justin Biber.  You will not be welcomed into the chain stores with fanfare and raving fans (save a few). You are the guy behind the little desk with a stack of books in front of you, instead of in your reader’s hands. ~~~>>>>

Today's book has matured. It has grown up and wants to be free from your clutches.

Surely you remember your youthful desire to get away from your parents and see the world, see new places and meet interesting people? Well that's what your book wants. It's part of a new generation and the idea of sitting on a shelf collecting dust is no longer appealing to his or her kind. It needs the energy and bolt of confidence that comes through the Internet and Amazon's Whispernet technology. Your book wants and deserves readers by the thousands. And what parent would give his child a serpent when she asks for a loaf of bread? What parent would give their daughter poison when she asks for a drink of water?

We are clearly in a new age. My computer experienced the Internet for the first time is 2001, but all of my kids are growing up in a time when the Internet is commonplace. Ebooks are likewise going to become commonplace. Print, in my opinion, will not disappear, but will fade into the shadows.

If you are still working at trying to get your books in stores, I applaud you, but only because I admire your love for the printed book. Seriously, there is something about paper that is alluring to me as well. But from one author to another, I believe your time is better spent writing more and selling online.

If the business of selling ebooks is new to you, let me bring you up to speed. Unknown, independent authors, like myself, are selling thousands and tens of thousands of copies of our digital books. Gone are days when a good book signing churned out ten copies and an order for six more. Things have seriously changed. And I hope you get on board soon. If you do, I can help you get on the ship and start sailing, but I’ll warn you, the sea is rough, dangerous, turbulent and most of all an adventure like no other.

• • •

Less than a year and a half ago I sat in a writer's conference in Indianapolis and listened to a panel of experts in the local writing community go silent on ebooks unless directly asked by a member of the audience. When asked about epublishing, the pros avoided the topic as if knowledge on the subject would stain their careers. They were clueless and many still are. This post may not make you an expert on “indie publishing” but it will keep you from looking like a fool when talking ebook shop.

Do not listen to the traditionalists unless you are dead set on getting published traditionally by a major or small press. I don't have a problem with someone going down that road. We all have a right to choose our own path. But if you desire to go the indie route, know this; you will likely sell one print copy for every thousand ebooks (my personal experience). I'm not talking about the first 200 print copies that are a shoe in from Aunt Bessie and Uncle Vern. No, I'm talking about that reader in Nebraska who hasn't heard of a Kindle or Nook for every thousand who have.

The publishing business has changed. Indie authors need to think differently, faster, and stay on top of technology. We need to write the best stories we can, get them edited and get a great cover and get them out the door formatted for mobi and ePub. We need to consistently churn out great reads and stop wasting time with the traditional methods. That's how we make money. That's how we stay in business. And that's how we get read.

Time is a valuable commodity. Use it well. I recommend joining Amazon Select (at the time of this writing), staying ahead of the curve and welcoming technology with open arms, because the picture I've painted regarding the publishing business is likely to change sooner rather than later. If you don't move with the waves, you will be left on shore... on a very hot, sandy beach that will leave you parched and sun burned.

**All this from an indie author who’s gone from “no name” to “Amazon Best Seller” within nine months of deciding that I would do this on my own instead of listening to people who ONLY want my money. If you truly care about your success as an author and you don't want to wait around for that perfect agent or perfect publisher who want to take all but 8% of YOUR royalties on something YOU created, than take heed, listen to me, write more, go indie, and sell. I'm here to help.

Look for my soon to be released book, The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe.

Jeff Bennington is the best selling author of Reunion, Twisted Vengeance & Creepy

Suspense

Mystery/Suspense

True Ghost Stories

Are You Ready for the NEW Black Friday?

It's coming! Can you hear it? It's a happy sound. It's the sound of wrapping paper crumpling, tape tearing and the oohs and aahs of readers around the world opening their much anticipated Kindle, Kindle Touch or Kindle Fire?

It's a sweet sound; the sound of Kindle love. And is there any better gift?

If you're an author, I hope you're listening to the joy, because the next week, in my humble opinion, is going to be the equivalent of Black Friday. Excited Kindle readers will tinker with their new toys and spend their Amazon gift cards on our books. Did you hear that? On our books...yours and mine.

These are very exciting times. Indie authors have so much to be thankful for. We're experiencing a time when technology has caught up with big business, an unbelievable opportunity to show the world that there are writers with exceptional talent, and worthy of notoriety with or without a publisher.

There are so many reasons why this is good news for writers and especially good for readers, but I don't want to beat a dead horse; Joe Konrath has covered the pros and cons of indie publishing.

My question is, are you ready for the NEW Black Friday?
Is your bookstore looking as good as it should? Is your hook catchy? Is your cover attractive? Are your editorial shelves in order? Have you put your best deals out front, in a nice display for all to see?

What's that? At least one of your books are on sale, right? You know, your "leader", your introductory book set at a bargain price, enticing readers to try more of your work?

Okay. Maybe you only have one book. Fair enough. But while we're on the subject, lets talk pricing.

Did you set the price at 99¢, $1.99, $2.99, $4 or more? This is an interesting question that many people are talking about. However, in my opinion, we shouldn't be debating whether a 99¢ book is devaluing books in general, but rather, discussing the size of an authors audience.

I think authors should set their pricing based on demand for their work (i.e., the significance of your platform). If you're struggling to sell anything, your audience/customer base is obviously low. You should set your prices accordingly. If you're selling by the thousands, there's probably enough demand to raise your prices a bit. But whatever you do... remember to think like a business person.

But I'll warn you, if you see Stephen King's $15.99 ebook prices and then scoff at authors who have set their prices below the $2.99 mark, remember that name recognition goes a long way, and some of us don't have it. Think about it...

Do book buyers around the world know who you are?


Do you have an ever growing email list of hungry readers?

Or are you like me, fighting tooth and bloody claw to get folks to notice your kick a•• thrillers? I mean seriously, if readers knew how hard I've had to work to get my name out there, they might buy my books out of pity, or because they love rooting for the underdog, of which I am the head of the pack.

Or maybe they wouldn't.

Either way, don't take slow sales personally. Simply press on, working diligently toward your goals.

Think... Get 'em in here, dazzle 'em with my best work, my best price, and then win their business with a quality product ~ as in a well written, well-edited book, with professional ebook formatting.

Whatever your audience looks like, let this post serve as a reminder that indies are humble book-store owners, fortunate to have a relationship with the largest ebook seller in the world.

I recommend varying your prices, offering deals, and generating demand for your best work. That's how successful businesses operate. That's what I'm doing. And honestly, I couldn't do it as well without Amazon's Select program.

In fact, I can't wait to share the juicy details about what the Select program has done for me already. However, I've been invited to write a guest post at The Creative Penn after the New Year regarding KDP Select, so you'll have to wait. Sorry.

For now, polish the brass, wax the floor, and get your books in order, because Christmas is here. Millions of Kindle owners will be knocking on your door. Are you ready for them?

Below are a few tips to get your books in tip-top shape.

BONUS TIPS for Amazon success: 

• Is your Product Description page Selling your Book? If not, I can fix that. I've bedazzled my book pages, linking all my titles and posting my accolades. I re-work your html for only $23. Look here ~> Glam! Bam! Thank you, ma'am!

• Is your Cover really cool? If not, there's a million other books that will draw the attention of readers away from YOUR book. I can fix that for only $79. Look here ~> Get a face lift.

• Are you lacking reviews? Reviews sell. Of course you need a GOOD book to get good REVIEWS. But if your book was professionally edited, I can fix that. ~> Send your book to The Kindle Book Review. 

• Discover all the services I offer. Look here. ~> Author Services.

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading. Follow my blog by email so you don't miss any posts.

~Jeff Bennington is the author of Twisted Vengeance, Reunion and Creepy.

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