Indie Author Interview – Angela White

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

I’d like to welcome indie author Angela White to my blog.  I’ve got some questions for her and she’s answered at least one of them in a creative way – read the interview to find out how :) .  So without further ado, let’s get to know a bit about Angela and her books…

Tell us about your new book:

Here – I’ll let Adrian tell you (he’s the hero).indie author Angela White

“An Eagle is the only line of defense between our camp of survivors and a hostile new world.  Extreme force is necessary and will be used at my discretion, no matter the age or condition of the threat.  True mercy in this new hell usually comes from death and hardly anything else.  Be prepared to not only face it up close but also to be the one pulling that trigger.  Lives are not to be taken lightly, but they will be taken.”

It’s part of a series, so tell us about the series:

Fated to lead New America, seven special people survive the apocalypse, only to find themselves on an adventure that will shake the very core of who they thought they were.  From dangerous trips into dark, decaying cities, to patriotic rescues and magic revelations, Life After War is an action packed fantasy where those left must come to terms with their mistakes in the old world, while fighting for a place in the new one.

What inspired this book?

Mostly the terminator films.  The idea of being destined to survive a nuclear apocalypse… well, it struck me hard and I’ve loved this genre since.  Writing it just came natural.

Why should readers read you? What makes you different?

I’m a female horror, fantasy, adventure, sci-fi, and romance writer.  Who wouldn’t like to read me?  Lol… seriously, now that the pleasantries are out-of-the-way, let’s you and I take a little stroll.  There’s a story I need to let out of its cage and I think it’s one you need to hear.  It’s about the end of the world as we know it…

What’s your best marketing tip for indie authors?

Lower the price.  Then get a real editor.  Do those two and you can’t miss.  Readers are hungry for good fiction.

Time for some rapid-fire questions:

Coke or Pepsi?

Coke, always

Summer or Winter?

Winter

Zombies or Vampires?

Vampires

Snow skiing or the beach?

Beach

Ice cream or cake?

Cake –chocolate!

This sounds like an interesting series from a great indie author – I hope you’ll stop by Angela’s site for more information.

You can buy the book here.

Good luck to you Angela and thanks for stopping by.

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Indie Authors – Read This Post (Seriously)

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

There has been a lot of ballyhoo lately about Amazon’s algorithms, what it means for indie authors.  And there have been many blog posts about this.  indie author handbookAnd here’s one more :) .  Seriously, rather than wax poetic about this, let me make a few points and then let you read some of those posts (they said it all, I give them the credit)  Read the posts…they pertain to you and your potential sales.

Indie Authors and Sales

It seems that Amazon’s algorithms may be changing, not just for free books but also for lower priced books.  See Phoenix Sullivan’s post about agency pricing and how this might affect indie authors, and Edward Robertson’s post about Amazon pricing.  It doesn’t bode well for the indie author…

Indie Authors and The Agency Price Scandal

On a side note, but somewhat related, if you haven’t kept up on the agency price scandal, the DOJ suit, and a letter sent by the AAR (Association of Author Representatives) just check JA Konrath’s blog (I don’t visit his site often because I got tired of his oft-repeated message that the agency model doesn’t work anymore, but his latest post is worth reading).  A simplified and easier post to read is here, by Dean Wesley Smith.  Another post worth reading, that has a letter to the DOJ on it (and it’s worth signing) is by David Gaughran.

Indie Authors and Self-Publishing

The publishing world is changing.  No one seems to know where things will be in a month, a week, a day…what is the impact for indie authors?  One, I do think that genre helps significantly in terms of sales (romance seems to be killing it right now).  Also, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (can’t find the post lol), you will have more and more competition from mainstream-published authors who are jumping ship and self-publishing.  And they already bring name recognition (i.e. they are ahead of the game and will outsell you based on that alone).  Read this post by Terri Giuliano Long for some thoughts and evidence of that.  I also think it will become less attractive to publish books (what, it really is this hard and now I’m being pushed out by Amazon?).  What can indie authors do?

Indie Authors and Show Me The Money – Not

Don’t look to make money at this.  It’s funny, I see so many new authors, those that have recently jumped on the indie bandwagon, hoping for success.  Guess what?  Not only doesn’t it happen now, it never did!  If you’ve ever attended writers’ conferences, especially back before there was Amazon and ebooks, the adage was don’t quit your day job.  Most authors don’t make money at this.  They write because they love storytelling (I couldn’t stop writing if I tried – I always end up back at it).  But if you hope to make money, increase your chances…

Indie Authors and Your Writing

We indie authors can’t control what Amazon does, or any other seller.  We can’t control agents, publishers or readers.  The ways to sell books will change faster than…I don’t know, it just changed :) .  You can control your writing: how much you write, how good your writing is, how you hired a quality editor to make your writing better.  Start there, and let the chips fall where they may.

What do you think?

Posted in Indie Author Handbook, Promoting Your Books | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Featured Indie Author – Sara Barnard

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

I’d like to welcome indie author Sara Barnard to the blog!  Sara’s written a couple of books and she has quite an interesting background (she’s a history major like me)…but I’ll let her tell you about it.

Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your writing:

We are a military family of six and also have three rescue dogs, two cats, eleven chickens and a horse.  Most are rescue animals, each with their own unique story.

I started my first novel, A HEART ON HOLD, during my husbands’ last deployment to Afghanistan.  When we moved here to Oklahoma, I was so moved by the natural beauty and history of the region, I wrote THE ABC’S OF OKLAHOMA PLANTS to try to get kids outside and experiencing the beauty of the Sooner state for themselves.

Why did you write The ABC’s of Oklahoma Plants?

Before I married and had kids, I spent my summers volunteering with the Student indie author Sara BarnardConservation Association all over the U.S. in conjunction with the Forest and Park Services.  The outdoors are so special to me and I  would love to give Oklahoma children a new angle by which to.view our natural lands.

Tell us about A Heart on Hold:

A HEART ON HOLD is a romance story, but not a typical romance story.  It’s set during the Civil War.  When Charlotte Adamsland gets word that her husband, CPT Sanderson Redding was killed during a botched escape from a Confederate Prison in Illinois, she heads North to repatriate his remains.

When did you start writing and why?

I started writing in the 3rd grade.  I had to as an outlet.  I have always expressed myself better on paper.  I took a few creative writing courses in college, but love history.  So after earning my BA in History, I kept writing and had a few articles published here and there.  Once The Hubby deployed, I wrote as an outlet and to keep sane during that stressful time.  An excerpt was published by Marble Press in 2010 and another short story of mine about my husband’s Afghani dog was published in THE HARSH AND THE HEART:CELEBRATING THE MILITARY by Silver Boomer Books in 2011.  Besides my upcoming novel and Oklahoma book, I have an old west ghost story coming out in CAMPFIRE TALES (Coolwell Press) and a short story about the effects of PTSD on the family following deployment in a Canadian anthology.  The ABC’S OF TEXAS PLANTS is also almost complete, as well.

What’s your best advice for marketing books?

EMBRACE THE.SYNOPSIS AND QUERY LETTER!!  You will need it later on.

Some rapid fire questions (some indie author fun:)):

Paperback or Kindle?

Paperback

Ice cream or cake?

Can you have one without the other?  I guess I’d have to vote for.ice cream!

Winter or summer?

Summer!

Early riser or nightcrawler?

Early riser for my kiddos, night crawler for my writing time!

Coke or Pepsi?

Sweet Tea :-)

Anything else you want to share?

Thanks for letting me be here with you today!

Thank you Sara for sharing your writing experience.  It’s nice to see the variety of books an indie author can publish.  I wish you the best of success!

Visit Sara at:

www.sarabarnardbooks.com

www.sarathreesuns.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/sara.barnard6

@thesarabarnard

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The Best of Film Noir – Tomorrow Is Another Day

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

best of film noirThis week in The Best of Film Noir we’re looking at a flick that many probably haven’t heard of.  Tomorrow Is Another Day is a film noir that starts out in true noir style, but then heads in the direction of sentimentality.  Does it work?  I’ll leave that up to you.  Tomorrow Is Another Day is about an ex-convict who thinks he killed a man, then shacks up with a taxi dancer whose boyfriend was the murder victim.  Complicated?  Yes.  Fun in a film noir way?  You bet!

The Best of Film Noir – The Noir Hero

Steve Cochran (who?) plays ex-convict Bill Lewis, a man who has spent much of his growing up in prison.  Upon release, Lewis has a difficult time adjusting to life on the outside.  Lewis hooks up with taxi dancer Catherine ‘Cay’ Higgins , and as fate would have it (remember, the hands of fate typically plays a vital role in film noir), Lewis ends up thinking he has committed murder by shooting Cay’s boyfriend.  Lewis realizes he’ll end up back in prison, so he decides to run away with Cay.  As we know, things never work out for the noir hero.  Events eventually transpire that lead to Lewis’ inevitable fall.

Never quite making leading-man status, Cochran became known for playing a great villain, and in Tomorrow Is Another Day Cochran does an admirable job.  He successfully portrays a man who at heart is still a kid, a boy who’s never experienced the world.  He’s prison-tough, and yet so vulnerable.  Quite the noir hero.

The Best of Film Noir – The Femme Fatale

Catherine ‘Cay’ Higgins, played by Ruth Roman, has come to New York to pursue a ballet career.  Instead she’s become a taxi dancer (many believe that this is a veiled way of saying that she was a prostitute), and she has a dirty cop boyfriend (her pimp) George Conover (Hugh Sanders).  Conover discovers Cay with Lewis.  A fight ensues and Conover is killed by Cay.  Acting as a true femme fatale, Cay leads Lewis to believe he did it (I won’t tell you how, watch the movie :) ).  Always lacking in morals, Cay figures Lewis will fare better with the law.  But since Lewis has a criminal past, this won’t work, so the couple decides to run.

Ruth Roman is great as Cay, sultry and sexy.  Best known for playing in another film noir, Strangers On A Train, Roman, like Cochran, never achieved leading lady status.  Most of her leading roles were in westerns, but she had a knack for playing against type, as she does in Tomorrow Is Another Day.

The Best of Film Noir – The Ending

Tomorrow Is Another Day is criticized because it seems to turn into a romance of sorts (some coin it redemption noir).  Cay and Lewis marry, even though they don’t love each other, and they head to California.  Their past is eventually discovered and Cay ends up saving Lewis.  This is not the typical dark film noir ending, and so some say it can’t be noir.

Very little is written about Tomorrow Is Another Day, but if you’d like a more in-depth look at the film and what the ending might mean (other than a romp into romance and sentimentality), read this post.  I could rehash it, but Steve Eifert does a great job.

The Best of Film Noir – Trivia

In one scene, Lewis asks Cay if she is going somewhere with the wounded detective.  Cay says I’m staying as far away from George Conover as I can.  Yet in the following  scene, Lewis sees a newspaper story about the shooting, which reports detective Conover’s first name as Harry.

Early in the film, the warden hands Bill Lewis a dime for streetcar fare, noting the price has gone up from a nickel during the time he was in prison.  However, Lewis takes a municipal bus instead.

Ruth Roman was a passenger on the ill-fated Andrea Doria, which sank when it collided with the Stockholm.

Many consider Tomorrow Is Another Day to be director Felix Feist’s masterpiece.  As one reviewer on imdb says: imagine Gun Crazy (another great film noir) scripted by Steinbeck – it’s that good.  So grab your popcorn and drinks and settle in for a long-forgotten film noir treat.

____________________

If you like mysteries and film noir, check out The Maltese Felon, Reed Ferguson’s latest adventure.

5 Star Review

Reed Ferguson is the newest cool detective on the bookshelves.  Reed is the best kind of detective; he’s one of us.  He hasn’t got massive muscles and wields a gun with ease.  He takes a licking, but keeps on ticking. He uses good old fashion brains to solve cases.  This is a great series that I am sure will garner many fans and hopefully we’ll be reading for years to come.

Amazon review

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Indie Authors – Latest KDP Results Part Three

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

My original idea was to have two posts on KDP Select because I thought I’d said it all :) .  indie author handbookWell, we indie authors are nothing if not resourceful and I’ve seen some wonderful posts about the current (as in the last ten days) state of KDP Select and I thought I’d share that with you.

Indie Authors – What Is Going On With Amazon?

Thanks all you indie authors who weighed in on this issue (if you haven’t read Indie Authors – Latest KDP Results Part One and Indie Authors – Latest KDP Results Part Two, read the thoughtful comments).  It would appear that we authors have had a variety of success using KDP Select.  But it also appears that Amazon has definitely changed some algorithms of late.  I won’t go into the details, you can read this excellent post, Failure Ahoy! by Ed Robertson for an in-depth (and I do mean in-depth) analysis of KDP Select.  That, and Russell Blake’s post (referenced to in my second post) seem to make a great case for Amazon changing algorithms to the detriment of indie authors.

Indie Authors – Genre

I do want to say one thing about genre.  Although it would appear that things are different at Amazon, I don’t think a book’s genre should be discounted, especially when we’re talking about getting to the top of the popularity lists.  My Reed Ferguson mystery series is mainstream mystery.  If you publish a book in the mystery category, there are about six sub-categories (general, hard-boiled, woman sleuths, and a few other).  From what I’ve seen, fantasy has like a gazillion sub-categories (fairies and who knows what else :) ).  I exaggerate for effect but there does appear to be some genres with more sub-categories, which means more chance of getting on popularity lists.  The Reed Ferguson mystery series has a harder time getting on those lists because there doesn’t appear to be the plethora of sub-categories.  I also wonder about the competition in the genres.  I don’t know if it’s still true, but at one point not too long ago, mysteries were the top-selling genre.  If that’s still the case, I have a lot more competition that someone in another category.  Now before you disagree, let me clarify, I’m speculating here :) .  I can’t say for certain what all is affecting KDP Select.

Indie Authors – Why Did Amazon Create KDP Select (And Why Change It)?

Again, this is pure speculation but here are my thoughts.  Amazon had a lot of indie authors asking to list their books for free (in 2011 certainly).  I know that it became extremely difficult for indie authors to get Amazon to list a book for free.  Indie authors were asking people to report their books as free elsewhere, trying to force Amazon into a price match.  But Amazon wants to make money and they’re not going to do this by offering books for free on a permanent basis (I received an email from Amazon saying this).  I think Amazon finally said it’s obvious authors want to offer their books for free, so we should offer books for free but how can we capitalize on it?

Thus came being exclusive with Amazon and a limit (five free days per book per ninety days).  And we indie authors jumped on the bandwagon, many to great success.  Then Amazon realized it was possibly losing money (cheap 99 cent to $2.99 ebooks selling on the bestseller lists or tons of downloads from mainstream publishers at 9.99 and higher) – again this is speculation on my part – so Amazon fixed the algorithms and now we indie authors don’t benefit anymore (again, see the other posts for more).  Give it time and Amazon will see if changing their algorithms has a negative impact on the bottom dollar.

Indie Authors – Where Do We Go From Here?

Now the speculation is that indie authors will bail on KDP (I know I have to consider it because I don’t make as much on my books that are lent out versus people buying the book outright, and if freebies aren’t getting me sales, it’s not really worth it).  I think KDP Select will have to morph or go away (it may take a year or two).

If you read the other posts (go do it :) ) a lot of indie authors are predicting that Amazon free days for marketing is on the way out.  I don’t know.  If a lot of indie authors bail on the program, this might be positive for those that stay in (less competition).  Regardless, it’s not prudent to only use KDP Select as a way to sell books.  I am constantly trying to figure out ways to generate word-of-mouth…which is still the key to selling books.

What do you think?

Posted in Indie Author Handbook, Promoting Your Books | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Indie Authors – Latest KDP Results Part Two

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

In my previous post about Amazon’s KDP, Indie Authors – Latest KDP Results, I discussed indie author handbookmy endeavors in giving away books.  This post, I’m going to address a few thoughts I have on the state of KDP and what it might mean for indie authors.

Indie Authors – My Assessment of The Current State of Freebies

The marketing technique I hear other indie authors say to use (since KDP came about) is to give away books for free and then layer the free promotion with paid promotions right after the free days.  The idea is that on your free days you will jump into Amazon’s top 100 (and be on the genre bestseller lists as well), and then, when your book is no longer free, you’ll bump right over into the paid top 100.

I’ve heard that initially there were mixed results with this, and that as time has gone on, even the indie authors that have had success with this approach are not seeing the same success of late.  They are also struggling to come anywhere close to cracking Amazon’s top 100 (see Russell Blake’s excellent blog post The Dark Side of Free for more on this – read the middle part especially for the effects of the freebie on sales).

I’ve heard a lot of theories about why books that were highly ranked on the free side didn’t stay highly ranked on the paid side, especially of late.  I watched This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies go from #1,000 to #124,000 right after the freebie – then it immediately began climbing quickly as it sold.  The point is it didn’t cross over into the corresponding rank on the paid side like some indie authors had seen.  Some say it’s the lack of advertizing, or the glut of freebies makes it harder to climb the ranks and stay there when you switch over to the paid list.  Maybe, but as someone in the IT field, here’s my theory:

In December, Amazon was new to the game, too.  They probably hadn’t accounted for free books crossing over to the bestseller lists after the free days were over.  But once they realized what was happening, they got their programmers working on the back-end code and corrected this.  Now, when your books goes off the free lists, it ranks wherever it was before the free days.  If you get a bunch of fast sales right after your free days (most likely due to advertizing on key sites like Kindle Nation Daily and Digital Book Today), like I did, that propels you quickly back up the charts.

Indie Authors – Is It Worth It?

This is a tough question.  I would certainly try a free campaign again, but as a regular marketing campaign, I don’t know.  I’ve seen a jump in all my sales since my last campaign for This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies, but I also shelled out a lot of money.  I basically broke even for the five-day campaign – two free days plus paid advertizing afterword (although I would be in the hole over $100 if KND hadn’t refunded the cost of their ad).  Now I know you have to spend to make, but at some point, the making has to outdo the spending.  If break-even continues, I don’t know if I’ll continue.  But I’m still watching my sales.  What I’m hoping for (and it seems to be bearing out for the moment) is that people who read This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies will like/love it, and want to read the other books in the series.  If this trend continues, giving away the first book is great.

I would certainly consider giving away other books, just to get them in the hands of readers, but again, if it doesn’t result in an increase in sales, then it doesn’t seem worth it.

Indie Authors – My Recommendations

It’s hard to say what one thing might’ve worked.  I changed more than one variable from giveaway to giveaway so I don’t know for certain what worked and what didn’t.  But here’s what I would recommend to maximize your free days:

  • write a good book (this seems obvious but…)
  • make sure you have a lot (10+) 4 and 5 star reviews of your book
  • get your book listed on as many sites as you can
  • make sure you have a great cover
  • lower your price right before your free days to get it climbing the charts
  • do some paid advertizing but don’t go overboard
  • use social media like crazy to let everyone know about your book (the bigger Twitter and Facebook fan page following, the better)
  • do some guest blog posts right around your campaign

So, that’s my take on things.  In this ever-changing Kindle world, it could be different tomorrow.  I hope these posts have been helpful.

By the way, don’t give your books long titles (This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies) – do you know how much is sucks to repeatedly type that out :) .  Also, don’t have an accent on your name (thanks Mom and Dad :) ) – constantly changing the e to have an accent – ugh!

Thanks to you who have shared your experiences.  I would love to hear more so please comment with your thoughts.  We all benefit – thanks!

Posted in Indie Author Handbook, Promoting Your Books | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

The Best of Film Noir – Notorious

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

This week in The Best of Film Noir, we’re looking at Notorious, a classic film directed by the best of film noir - notoriousthe incomparable Alfred Hitchcock.  I have to confess, I am a huge Hitchcock fan.  He was an absolutely phenomenal director and storyteller.  Seriously, how many Hitchcock films are poorly received?  A handful, maybe.  Plus, Notorious features my all-time favorite actor, Cary Grant…oooh la la.  So without further ado, let’s take a look at this great film noir.

The Best of Film Noir – The Noir Hero

Some do not consider Notorious to be film noir, in part because the noir hero is played by a Hollywood star, Cary Grant.  Grant plays government agent T.R. Devlin, and he romances Alicia Huberman, played by Ingrid Bergman.  Devlin does fit the noir hero in that he is a victim of forces larger than himself.  Devlin also has some questionable morals, because he’s willing to let Huberman (whom he loves) prostitute herself in order to get valuable information for the U.S. government (even though he feels conflicted when she does such a great job).  Other than that…I’ll leave it to you readers to decide if Devlin’s a noir hero.

The Best of Film Noir – The Femme Fatale

As stated above, Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia Huberman, a woman who goes on a drinking binge after her German father is convicted of treason against the U.S.  Devlin gets close to her and asks her to spy on a Nazi group that was friends with her father.  This takes her to Rio de Janeiro, where she marries a wealthy German businessman, Alexander Sebastian, played by Claude Rains.  Is she a femme fatale?  Not in the true sense of the word, but like Devlin, she is victim to forces outside her control.  So again, this leaves some to question the film noir label for this movie.

The Best of Film Noir – Film Noir or Not?

Some aspects of Notorious that gives credence to its film noir label are its distinct look (cinematography) and feel, the conflict between duty and desire, a crime (selling uranium), a significant totem (the key), and of course the main characters caught up in a fate they can’t control.  One strong argument says that Notorious can’t be film noir because noir movies don’t have a happy ending.  Either way, Notorious was almost scandalous when it was released because it deals with a woman seducing a man she doesn’t love because another man (who she does love) orders her to do it.

The Best of Film Noir – The Story

From a writing standpoint, watch how well Hitchcock tells this story.  Notorious is often overlooked when people discuss Hitchcock films, and that’s too bad.  This is a great story, told in such a compelling way that we are on the edge of our seats a lot.  We are sucked in, right to the suspenseful ending.

The Best of Film Noir – Some Trivia

Did you know that Alfred Hitchcock makes a small cameo appearance in all his movies?  This was a stunning thing to do when he first began directing (in the late 1920′s) but then people began to expect it, and looking for Hitch was part of the fun when you watched one of his movies.

The prop key that Ingrid Bergman holds during the movie was taken by Cary Grant.  A few years later, he gave it to Bergman, saying it brought him luck and maybe it would for her.  Years later, at a tribute to Hitchcock, she gave the key to him.  Hitch was delighted.

At the coffee shop in Rio, Devlin’s hands are repeatedly folded or unfolded between shots.

After just arriving in Rio, Alicia and Devlin are drinking at a café.  In one shot, Alicia is touching her glass which is still on the table.  In the very next shot, she is removing the glass from her lips.

When Alicia and Devlin are flying to South America, the movement of the clouds makes it appear that the plane is flying backwards.

What a fun movie to discuss :) .  Whether you want to call Notorious film noir or not, do not miss this movie.  It is a classic film and wonderful to watch.  So grab your popcorn, candy and soda and revel in a master work.

____________________

Check out The Maltese Felon, Reed Ferguson’s latest adventure.mystery series

5 Star Review

Reed Ferguson is the newest cool detective on the bookshelves.  Reed is the best kind of detective; he’s one of us.  He hasn’t got massive muscles and wields a gun with ease.  He takes a licking, but keeps on ticking. He uses good old fashion brains to solve cases.  This is a great series that I am sure will garner many fans and hopefully we’ll be reading for years to come.

Amazon review

About The Reed Ferguson Mystery Series

Reed is a wannabe private eye who loves film noir and crime fiction, and these mystery novels are consistently well-reviewed. The second in the series Reel Estate Rip-off, and the short story Elvis And The Sports Card Cheat, are great additions to your library.

5 Star Review
There is little doubt that Renée Pawlish is a promising new voice to the comic murder/mystery genre. Quite noticeable…is Pawlish’s adept development of the plot coupled with her ability to contrive clear, concise and playful prose with almost perfect pacing.

Norman Goldman, Bookpleasures Publisher and Editor (Amazon top reviewer)

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Indie Authors – Latest KDP Select Results

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

indie author handbookIn the last couple of months I did a couple of Kindle freebies and I thought I’d share the overall results and my thoughts on the whole giving away books for free.  Since I have a lot to say on this, I’m breaking this up into two posts.  I hope you’ll come back for part two.

My first Kindle freebie was right at Christmas in 2011 and I just wrapped up a freebie (March 2012).  I have some generals thoughts about the program and the results others are seeing as well.  Also, I am focusing solely on US downloads.

Indie Authors – My First Time Giving Away Books

I enrolled my horror book, Nephilim Genesis of Evil, and This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies (the first in the Reed Ferguson mystery series)Nephilim Genesis of Evillast Christmas.  I ended up with both books downloading a respectable number (Nephilim 3,164 and This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies 2,868).  This wasn’t anywhere near what some others did, but it was still decent.  I did not get into the Amazon’s top 100 list, although Nephilim did get to #6 on the horror bestseller lists.

What worked:

Between Christmas and New Years I got a nice jump in sales, both books selling well (Nephilim over 300 copies in less than a week, This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies over 150).

My other books (Reel Estate Rip-0ff, The Sallie House: Exposing the Beast Within, and Take Five) saw a tiny bump in sales.

What didn’t:

I was a total noob and I didn’t have any advertizing around this, so this literally was a tweet, Facebook, and blog word-of-mouth effort.

DON’T enroll on Christmas day – my experience was that hardly any downloads occurred on Christmas day (my suspicion is that even though people got a Kindle for Christmas, they were too busy with family and fun to actually download any books).  Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas were great.

I used up all five days at once – don’t do it.  It just doesn’t seem as successful as two days in a row.

Indie Authors – My Second Time Giving Away Books

When I released my middle grade adventure series book, The Emerald Quest, I didn’t do much of any promotion, either free or paid (I was in a hurry to get the book out there, so I just went for it).  I did get it listed on Digital Book Today (Anthony, you rock!) but other than that, I tweeted about it and wrote a blog post.  I got a grand total of 603 downloads and no sales after the fact.

My theory on low downloads and lack of sales is that it’s a book targeted at kids, but parents were the ones downloading it (and probably not reading it since it was free – and thus they weren’t telling anyone about it).  It got onto some bestseller lists but in weird categories (boats and transportation), too.  I don’t know if it got into any kids’ hands.  I’ve heard other authors of MG/YA books not see a lot of results from the free days, but if you are an author with great results with a MG/YA book freebie campaign, I’d love to hear about it.

Indie Authors – My Third Time (Attempt) Giving Away Books

Now here’s where things got interesting.  I planned to do a short (one-day) freebie of Nephilim in March, just as soon as I could re-enroll it in KDP Select for another 90 days.  I paid for two Social Media Buzz days from two different places.  What ended up happening was I wanted to enroll on March 22 for the free day, then have two consecutive buzz days.  Nice, right?

Ah, I hadn’t counted on Amazon…my enrollment period ended on 12:00 AM March 20 (so early on the 21st).  I should be able to go in on the 21 at 0:01 AM and enroll for that day, right?  Wrong.  The first day I could select for a free day was the 22nd.  But that’s when my social media buzz was running, the piece that would help my sales after I’d been bumped into the bestseller ranks (hopefully) on the free day.  Ah, what an idiot I was (trying to schedule something right around the renewal date)…but I did learn something:

I’m not sure if the whole social media buzz works.  Two days of buzz from two different sites did not garner any great sales bump (it was next to nothing).  In theory, the buzz should’ve, regardless of whether my books were in the bestseller lists or not.  Now, maybe it was the book (although Nephilim has been my bestselling book to that date with 40 great reviews) or the cover (but everyone says they think it’s a great cover).  I don’t know, but I’d need more convincing to do the buzz again.

Indie Authors – My Fourth Time Giving Away Books

indie author salesThis past week I enrolled This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies for a two-day freebie.  I had brand-new covers for it and the second in the mystery series (Reel Estate Rip-off), plus a new third title (The Maltese Felon), and I released A Reed Ferguson Omnibus (all three novels plus the short story Elvis And The Sports Card Cheat).  I also have a lot more followers than I did last Christmas on my blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Triberr.  So a lot more social reach.

The results: This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies downloaded 10,612 copies in the two days.  Not bad.  I had scheduled a Kindle Nation Daily paid ad for the first day after the freebie, plus a few other social media buzz days in the next few days.  I had knocked the price of This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies down to 99 cents just prior to the freebie days, and I left it there in the days following the freebie days.  I ended up selling almost 400 hundred copies in five days.  However, once the social media buzz was over, it’s been a slow sink (This Doesn’t Happen In The Movies sits around #6,705 on the Amazon ranking as I write this post).  But I’m seeing a huge jump in sales of all my other books (except the middle-grade book, The Emerald Quest).  What I really like is that I’ve seen the Reed Ferguson short story selling well (it wasn’t before).  The other two books in the Reed Ferguson mystery series, and the omnibus, are selling well, too.

What worked:

I think a couple of things resulted in the huge amount of free downloads:

  • I got on Pixel of Ink – everyone talks about it being a great place to advertize your freebie, but it’s a crap shoot as to whether you will get listed.  You have to alert them weeks in advance and there’s no guarantee.  I got lucky here.
  • Digital Book Today is great and growing and I was listed there as well, I know it helped.
  • I found out after the fact that I got listed on a few other sites (I’m not even sure how, I don’t think I submitted to them so it was organic).
  • I redesigned my covers and they look better and have a better film noir feel.

In terms of sales afterward, Kindle Nation Daily was big, but they had the price wrong ($3.99 instead of 99 cents).  This was corrected at about 9 AM but who knows what sales I might’ve missed here (they were superb though with this and actually refunded my money for the mistake).

Digital Book Today is also great with paid advertizing.  The social media buzz, I don’t know.  In this case, it appeared to help, but the biggest sales were in the two days after the free days.

What didn’t work:

  • The snafu with Kindle Nation Daily – I have no way of knowing if/how much this hurt sales.
  • I should’ve lined up at least a few guest blog posts to help with sales.
  • I didn’t get above about #1,000 on the Amazon bestseller rankings.

As you can see, my marketing efforts were across the board, and my success rate was across the board as well.  I also think that the current state of freebies, in just a few months, is not even close to what it was in the first month or two after the program started.  I think a lot of factors played into this, and in my follow-up post I’ll address this.

What are your thoughts?  If you think I was a dummy in how I did things, I’m happy to hear it, just be nice :) .  What success have you had?

Posted in Indie Author Handbook, Promoting Your Books | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Writers Workshop – A Great Beginning And The Godfather

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

In this Writers Workshop post I am focusing on a great beginning (if you missed it, read my last post, Writers Workshop – Editing And The Godfather).  The first line or two (or writers worshoppossibly paragraph) can make or break a book.  As a writer, you need to hook the reader in right from the first sentence and have them saying wow, what happens next? or I want to know more.  So what makes a good, or better yet, a great beginning to a novel?

Writers Workshop – Just Your Basic Hook

A basic hook is one where you introduce some little thing that the reader doesn’t know about and they have to read more to find out what that something is (this is great in fantasy or science fiction).  If you can do this in the first line, that’s great!

The flugerbolly spaceship roared into the sky trailing a cloud of smoke.

You have to read more to find out what the flugerbolly spaceship is (and why it’s important).  This is a very basic and easy hook.  It can work, but the rest of the paragraph had better set the stage for your story.

Writers Workshop – A Hook That Propels The Novel Forward

A better hook will immediately move the story forward, and pique your reader’s interest.  This might be a feel for who the main character is, or for the coming drama of the story.  But in this type of hook we must see some kind of conflict.  You also want to be unique…how many of us have heard it was a dark and stormy night (ugh).  It’s also good to either have excitement (thrillers and crime novels usually have an exciting and dramatic first sentence) or at least a hint of excitement to come.

Writers Workshop – Some Other Techniques

You can also indicate that a change is about to occur, either for the character or for the world (humankind, nature, etc.).  You can present something of intrigue, whether a person, place or thing.  You can also throw the reader for a loop, shock them with something unexpected or horrific.  The point is, get them wanting to know more.

Writers Workshop – The Godfather Hook

The Godfather has a great first line.  It’s not about the Don himself, but it sets the stage to introduce this great man (the first few pages of the chapter actually do this – they introduce us to three people who need favors that only a powerful man can deliver).  Here’s the first sentence:

Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her.

Right away we know that we have an immigrant (and that he’s from Italy or Sicily most likely), that something awful has happened to his daughter, something so heinous that justice must be served.  And yet justice might not be enough, vengeance must also be a part of the equation.  What happened?  Why did this injustice dishonor Bonasera’s daughter?  When I first read The Godfather, I was hooked.  I wanted to know more.

Writers Workshop – Another Awesome Hook

This isn’t from The Godfather, but it’s a favorite of mine.  This is from the great novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.

On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back.

OMG!  Now (spoiler alert) when I read it, I knew the story had something to do with vampires, and that made the first line even more jarring for me.  Oh, man, the stress of not knowing when sunset is.  And they were out.  I was hooked!

Writers Workshop – Final Thoughts

Obviously different genres may hook readers in different ways.  And we all have different tastes, so what might be a great line that pulls me in doesn’t for you.  But if no one cares about reading more, it’s time to go back to the keyboard and try again.

What hooks you in?

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Blog Basics Continued – The Best Tip I’ve Heard

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Renée Pawlish

Okay, this Blog Basics Continued tip may not be the all-time best tip that I’ve ever heard, indie author handbookbut gosh-darnit, it’s right up there with the best.  Read on…

Blog Basics – What Gets You Found

We can talk all day about Triberr, Twitter, Facebook and so on as means to get people to your blog, but the absolute best way to get traffic to your blog is to rank highly in Google searches.  What this means is that if someone searches on baby buggies, and you have a blog that focuses on baby buggies (or baby stuff), if you’ve done the right things with your blog (like keyword rich blog posts), your blog will show up on page one of Google when someone searches on baby buggies.  This is the holy grail because most people won’t go more than a page or two into a Google search before they quit.

Blog Basics – The Importance of Content

Before I get to my tip, I want to discuss content.  Have you heard the expression content is king?  From a Google (and Yahoo and Bing) standpoint, how much content (and the relevance of your content related to your keywords – visit Guerilla Online Marketing For Authors for keyword tips) is what gets your blog noticed (back links are also critical, and other SEO tips and tricks do help – visit Blog Basics for Indie Authors on the Promoting Your Books page for more posts on SEO).  This means a blog with a thousand posts is going to rank more highly than a blog with two posts (unless you’re talking in terms of very specific keywords like someone searching on your name – of course your blog will show up right on page one of Google).  The more content you have on your blog, the better.  Google has spiders that constantly search (crawl) through web content, looking for new information.

Blog Basics – The Importance of Content Part II

Okay, but it can be freakin’ tiring trying to write a lot of content, keeping a blog fresh and new in Google’s eyes.  Trust me, I know.  If you can, it’s great to blog at least a few times a week.  Some people suggest blogging once a day.  The pros are this is great for your SEO, but you might risk alienating people who don’t have the time to read your posts every day.  If your content is stellar, you decrease this risk (man, Renée’s content is so great I can’t wait to read the next post :) ).  But back to that point of it takes so much time.  This is where the great tip comes in…

Blog Basics – Changing Content

The great tip I heard (I have to admit – like a dummy I’d forgotten it and was reminded again by a guerrilla marketing guru) is that you can change existing posts just slightly, and Google will read this as new content.  You can literally just change a period to an exclamation point and this is saved with a new date and Google thinks it’s new.  How cool is that?  A better way would be to go back and add some links to your posts, linking to new content you’ve added.  Or add links to new books you’ve published.  By doing this, Google sees your blog as new and fresh, and it will help get you to rank higher.

Awesome tip, right?  Now go do it :) .

Posted in Promoting Your Books | Tagged , , | 14 Comments