My life is going to get busy. Really Busy.
Tonight I start with Play Practice. Yes, I'm participating in the Local City-wide Play production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I'm excited to have the role of one of the brides. While that may be enough work for the next few months, I guess I'm a glutten for punishment because I'm also taking on the duties of Choreographer of 3 of the dances, including the crazy-intense challenge dance.
So life is now going to get very busy for me (and my family) and I'll have to cut back somewhere. That somewhere will be my cyber-social world. A serious lack of blogging, very little activity on Twitter and almost no blog hopping/reading.
But it's only for a few months! Besides, in my 'free time' (ha ha), I'll still be doing my best to keep up with the world of Facebook and the writing world too. My book will remain on sale for Kindle and I'll run a promotion or two as well. I'll try and remember to post on Twitter about the 'Free Day's for Sweetwater Springs, as well as maybe even finding time to post a blog post or two.
So anyway - for the next 3 or 4 months, life will be very busy. But busy is better than bored, right?
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Oh My Gosh! Something's Happening to Sweetwater Springs!
I thought it appropriate to let you know that something is happening with Sweetwater Springs! It's currently 10:30pm MST and my sales are really starting to move! (just to be clear, 'my' definition of 'move' is obviously different than everyone elses)
I meant to get on a day or so ago and do an update to my KDP listing of Sweetwater Springs, but found myself just too busy to get it done.
Consider this the update. :]
Somewhere between 5pm and 9pm today, I started getting sales. Ok, I've been getting sales since listing on KDP Select, but this is a significant increase in numbers. While I'm still not breaking the bank by any means, I'm very excited to see the moving of my baby, my book.
Just as a back notice, though - Exactly 2 weeks after I first listed Sweetwater on Kindle Select and did my 2 day free promotion (which was a great success), my ranking took a major nose dive (from the 20K-40K range all the way down below 100K range). So the next day I used the 'Price Pulsing' idea of dropping the listing price to just $.99 cents in hopes of gaining back some of my placement. It worked and the next day I was back up in the 20K range. Yeah!
So I decided that after having my baby at $.99 for a few days, it was time to move back to my $2.99 mark. So this morning I tweeted that this would be the last day at $.99 and I tweeted once more a little later in the day.
Then - between 5pm and 9pm, something happened and I saw 20 some odd sales. Between 9 and 10 I've gotten another 10 or so. Now, while it's currently listed at only $.99, the royalties aren't very big .... but ...
royalties aren't the big deal here right now - it's book ranking. Check this out:
Right now, my book is currently listed at about the 3500 ranking mark! YEA! AND - Even better -- I'm listed in 'Western Romance' at number 54! YEA!!! 54!
Now - for full disclosure, I've been trying to market my book for a while now and I recognize that success in the publishing industry is fleeting at best and tomorrow morning, things may look very different. But until then .... I'm enjoying my success.
What happened this evening to make this big change? I don't know, but I'm very, very happy about it and hope to see lots more of this success.
I meant to get on a day or so ago and do an update to my KDP listing of Sweetwater Springs, but found myself just too busy to get it done.
Consider this the update. :]
Somewhere between 5pm and 9pm today, I started getting sales. Ok, I've been getting sales since listing on KDP Select, but this is a significant increase in numbers. While I'm still not breaking the bank by any means, I'm very excited to see the moving of my baby, my book.
Just as a back notice, though - Exactly 2 weeks after I first listed Sweetwater on Kindle Select and did my 2 day free promotion (which was a great success), my ranking took a major nose dive (from the 20K-40K range all the way down below 100K range). So the next day I used the 'Price Pulsing' idea of dropping the listing price to just $.99 cents in hopes of gaining back some of my placement. It worked and the next day I was back up in the 20K range. Yeah!
So I decided that after having my baby at $.99 for a few days, it was time to move back to my $2.99 mark. So this morning I tweeted that this would be the last day at $.99 and I tweeted once more a little later in the day.
Then - between 5pm and 9pm, something happened and I saw 20 some odd sales. Between 9 and 10 I've gotten another 10 or so. Now, while it's currently listed at only $.99, the royalties aren't very big .... but ...
royalties aren't the big deal here right now - it's book ranking. Check this out:
Right now, my book is currently listed at about the 3500 ranking mark! YEA! AND - Even better -- I'm listed in 'Western Romance' at number 54! YEA!!! 54!
Now - for full disclosure, I've been trying to market my book for a while now and I recognize that success in the publishing industry is fleeting at best and tomorrow morning, things may look very different. But until then .... I'm enjoying my success.
What happened this evening to make this big change? I don't know, but I'm very, very happy about it and hope to see lots more of this success.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Follow up to Tracking My Kindle Book Sales
In follow up to this post: http://alextaylorwolfe.blogspot.com/2012/02/help-tracking-and-monitoring-my-kindle.html
I've noticed a change in the KDP reporting feature. This is better. It looks like Amazon has divided up the different methods of 'selling' the book into separate columns of reporting data. This change sure helps to see better what is happening.
The new columns I see are:
Units Sold
Units Refunded
Net Units Sold
Units Borrowed
Free Units - Promo
Free Units - Price Matching.
Previously, in my report, I only saw 'units sold'. This, of course, only provided a portion of the needed data to see what kind of money I was making and how many units I was moving. These new columns provide some important information for my tracking.
Most importantly, - Separation of 'Sold', 'Borrowed', and 'Free'. This was the biggest. With 2K+ 'sales' last week, it didn't tell me much of what was going on. Were they all free? Paid? How many of each? This new separation helps me see where my books are going.
So - a quick shoutout to the 'Reporting' team at Amazon for providing us authors with more information regarding our sales at the KDP.
What other benefits do you get from the new reporting layout?
I've noticed a change in the KDP reporting feature. This is better. It looks like Amazon has divided up the different methods of 'selling' the book into separate columns of reporting data. This change sure helps to see better what is happening.
The new columns I see are:
Units Sold
Units Refunded
Net Units Sold
Units Borrowed
Free Units - Promo
Free Units - Price Matching.
Previously, in my report, I only saw 'units sold'. This, of course, only provided a portion of the needed data to see what kind of money I was making and how many units I was moving. These new columns provide some important information for my tracking.
Most importantly, - Separation of 'Sold', 'Borrowed', and 'Free'. This was the biggest. With 2K+ 'sales' last week, it didn't tell me much of what was going on. Were they all free? Paid? How many of each? This new separation helps me see where my books are going.
So - a quick shoutout to the 'Reporting' team at Amazon for providing us authors with more information regarding our sales at the KDP.
What other benefits do you get from the new reporting layout?
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Authors: I'm looking for a new book to read.
Inspired by this post: http://plottingprincesses.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-heart-books-by-kathy-ivan.html
In between being a mom and writing, I regularly find time to read (almost exclusively now on my kindle). I'm on the hunt for another great novel to read. Authors, feel free to post in the comments your suggestions for a new title for me to read.
Please keep in mind I lean more to the 'Clean' side of romance (no 'bodice-rippers' and/or explicit sex). If you have a book available on the kindle that you think I might enjoy - please feel free to post it in the comments below. FREE publicity for your book!
Format:
Title: Sweetwater Springs
Author: Alex Taylor Wolfe
Available on: Kindle (free to prime members)
Description: In the spring of 1900, Katie O’Hare returns to Sweetwater Springs ten years after being orphaned by a murderous act that left her with nothing but an old pocket watch and scattered memories. Reluctantly she begins to fall for Tyler Reynolds, a rugged young cowboy with a troubled past. As their romance deepens, they find themselves tragically connected to a secret that puts their love and their lives in danger.
Your Turn:
Title:
Author:
Available on:
Description:
In between being a mom and writing, I regularly find time to read (almost exclusively now on my kindle). I'm on the hunt for another great novel to read. Authors, feel free to post in the comments your suggestions for a new title for me to read.
Please keep in mind I lean more to the 'Clean' side of romance (no 'bodice-rippers' and/or explicit sex). If you have a book available on the kindle that you think I might enjoy - please feel free to post it in the comments below. FREE publicity for your book!
Format:
Title: Sweetwater Springs
Author: Alex Taylor Wolfe
Available on: Kindle (free to prime members)
Description: In the spring of 1900, Katie O’Hare returns to Sweetwater Springs ten years after being orphaned by a murderous act that left her with nothing but an old pocket watch and scattered memories. Reluctantly she begins to fall for Tyler Reynolds, a rugged young cowboy with a troubled past. As their romance deepens, they find themselves tragically connected to a secret that puts their love and their lives in danger.
Your Turn:
Title:
Author:
Available on:
Description:
Top 5 Favorite Books - #5
As part of a series of posts, documenting my top 5 favorite books of all time. What they are and why I love them.
#5 : The Giver
Description:
Why I love it: I love the concept of this book, and it is so well written. If you want a book that will make you really think about the world around you, this is it!
What are your top 5 favorite books of all time?
#5 : The Giver
Description:
Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.
Why I love it: I love the concept of this book, and it is so well written. If you want a book that will make you really think about the world around you, this is it!
What are your top 5 favorite books of all time?
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Help! Tracking and Monitoring my Kindle eBook Sales.
Please help me learn of better ways to track this data. It seems the KDP reporting feature is somewhat lacking. Currently, to track my number of sales and my current ranking, I'm having to quickly wear out my 'Refresh' button. That doesn't seem right.
How do you track your sales on KDP?
How do you track your ranking position?
Please post in the comments (anyone can comment) the ways you track your sales and rankings in KDP. I appreciate the help.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
New Marketing Update
I feel like it's time to post an update to the new marketing I'm doing. As I've posted before, I decided to go exclusive with Amazons KDP Select and try out their service for 90 days. I 'unpublished' my book from the other platforms and got signed up with KDP Select.
I've been reading about other people's success with this and their use of 'free days' so I decided to start out with 2 free days to really get things going. And boy did they get moving. In the first 2 days of being on KDP Select, and with my book listed at $2.99, but on promotion for free, I moved nearly 2500 digital copies.
On one hand, to see 2500 copies go into the hands of others makes me really excited. Of course, I didn't make a dime on any of that, but I knew that giving things away for free is a good tactic in marketing.
As for Amazon rankings,I found my book as high as 138 on all the top free books. In 'Romance', I climbed to position 38 and in Historical Romance, I hit #9. These high rankings helped tremendously to get seen and known. Of course, when the book converted to paid (but still free to Amazon Prime members), it was no longer free so it dropped immediately from the 'Top Free' list.
In fact, when it dropped off the Free List, I found my book ranked all the way down near the 300,000 range. This didn't make me happy, but my husband encouraged me to be patient and wait to see. My book converted to paid on Sunday night at midnight (02.26.2012). Since that time, I'm seeing a 'better than previously' stream of orders.
Over the past 32 hours, I've seen about 20 US downloads and 2 units borrows. While that doesn't break the bank, it IS better than I've seen before. I'm also seeing downloads from Amazon UK, DE and FR.
Over the past 32 hours, my book has also climbed back up in the rankings. I'm sitting at around 23,000 now (much better than 300,000). The Author Central rank reporting does not provide good data on which to base tracking, but I think I'm bouncing around that 23,000 mark a bit. I'll continue to watch it.
So, in summary, this new marketing campaign seems to be doing better than I've done in the past and I'm happy about that. While I'm not yet a millionair for selling books, I CAN say I'm a success because I've sold some books. :]
Now I'm back off to do some more writing. Must * Write * More!
Have you seen success using the KDP Select system?
I've been reading about other people's success with this and their use of 'free days' so I decided to start out with 2 free days to really get things going. And boy did they get moving. In the first 2 days of being on KDP Select, and with my book listed at $2.99, but on promotion for free, I moved nearly 2500 digital copies.
On one hand, to see 2500 copies go into the hands of others makes me really excited. Of course, I didn't make a dime on any of that, but I knew that giving things away for free is a good tactic in marketing.
As for Amazon rankings,I found my book as high as 138 on all the top free books. In 'Romance', I climbed to position 38 and in Historical Romance, I hit #9. These high rankings helped tremendously to get seen and known. Of course, when the book converted to paid (but still free to Amazon Prime members), it was no longer free so it dropped immediately from the 'Top Free' list.
In fact, when it dropped off the Free List, I found my book ranked all the way down near the 300,000 range. This didn't make me happy, but my husband encouraged me to be patient and wait to see. My book converted to paid on Sunday night at midnight (02.26.2012). Since that time, I'm seeing a 'better than previously' stream of orders.
Over the past 32 hours, I've seen about 20 US downloads and 2 units borrows. While that doesn't break the bank, it IS better than I've seen before. I'm also seeing downloads from Amazon UK, DE and FR.
Over the past 32 hours, my book has also climbed back up in the rankings. I'm sitting at around 23,000 now (much better than 300,000). The Author Central rank reporting does not provide good data on which to base tracking, but I think I'm bouncing around that 23,000 mark a bit. I'll continue to watch it.
So, in summary, this new marketing campaign seems to be doing better than I've done in the past and I'm happy about that. While I'm not yet a millionair for selling books, I CAN say I'm a success because I've sold some books. :]
Now I'm back off to do some more writing. Must * Write * More!
Have you seen success using the KDP Select system?
Friday, February 24, 2012
Numbers are Hoppin'!!!
Sometimes as an author you wonder if your book has reached anyone, or if you have fallen into a crack somewhere, and my hope is that with this new Campaign I will reach more readers that will be excited about reading my books.
Please, please, if you have read Sweetwater Springs, post something, anything, tell me what you loved about it, shoot, tell me what you hated about it! Then, post a blurb at the end of the book on Kindle and tell the world. I appreciate every one of you, I know lots of authors say that but I truly mean it. Sweetwater Springs is just like one of my kids; lots of sweat and tears went into it and all moms like hearing how much other people like their kids, so don't be shy, write a review, even if it isn't wonderful, I also love constructive criticism.
Anyway, I need to get to bed, but I look forward seeing the numbers in the morning. Just a quick reminder, the book is free until midnight tomorrow night, that's 12:00 a.m., February 26th. Pick one up and enjoy it today!
Marketing Changes - and Free Books!
I've recently been reading more and more about the Amazon Prime option of KDP Select. The more I read, the more I'm interested. While the program is still very new (3 months old?), it seems to have great potential and I'm reading a lot of success stories and reviews on the program.
So I've decided to jump in. I've made my novel, Sweetwater Springs, available exclusively on Amazon Kindle and enrolled in KDP Select. Here is some information about the program.
#1 - To be part of Kindle Select, you must offer your digital book via Kindle only. This means I had to 'unpublish' the book from Barnes and Nobles Nook platform. : [ This doesn't make me happy because I've been seeing more sales on the Nook than in the other platforms. But, in an effort to increase my name recognition, to profligate my name and book out there, I've made the difficult decision to remove Sweetwater Springs from Nook, and from Smashwords and go exclusively with Kindle (for now).
#2 - Signup to Kindle Select couldn't be much easier. Since I already had my book published through their KDP platform, I simply had to click the button and mark the checkbox. It really was that simple.
#3 - The Kindle Select program is a 90 day contract. My goal is to use the next 90 days to really offer my book and get noticed more. I have more books getting ready for publication and name recognition is huge. 90 days seems to be a good starting point to focus on this goal.
#4 - During each 90 period (and they auto-renew you after 90 days unless you 'opt-out'), you get 5 'free days'. These are promotions you must setup. You set the price, you set the day it will start, and the day it will end. The promotion takes effect at midnight (their time) on the day you specify, and similarly, ends at midnight their time on the day you select to end the promotion.
#5 - To get a good start on my marketing in this manner, I setup my first promotion to begin on day 1. (that's today). So, at 10:30pm MST last night, my book was enrolled in the KDP select program and at midnight (their time), my book went on promotion. I decided to offer the book for free for the first two days. Yes, that means for today and tomorrow, (until midnight tomorrow night), the Sweetwater Springs will be free to anyone who has access to the KDP Select program (Amazon Prime members). Furthermore, the Select program offers the Borrowing feature, which I'm still learning more about.
#6 - Much to my surprise this morning at 7:00am MST, I had already had 150 'sales'. And by 'sales', I really mean free downloads, because the book is currently listed for free. The 'sales' numbers continue to climb and as of right now, 8:30am MST, I'm at over 200 'sales'. (I'll continue to put quotes around the word 'sales' until I actually start making money. :] )
And to close this morning, I had done lots of reading about people posting their book's rankings on Kindle. For the life of me I just couldn't figure out where to get those numbers. But after significant research, I finally found it. Amazon Author Central: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/landing There, after registering and logging in, you can see your book(s) and their current rankings. Since I am still very new to this, I'm still learning and I'll post more as I figure it out.
For now, though - On we go with Kindle Select! Free book all day today and tomorrow. Check out Sweetwater Springs, FREE for a limited time, here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KYIZ76
And if you have more insight to the KDP Select program, or comments, please feel free to post below.
#1 - To be part of Kindle Select, you must offer your digital book via Kindle only. This means I had to 'unpublish' the book from Barnes and Nobles Nook platform. : [ This doesn't make me happy because I've been seeing more sales on the Nook than in the other platforms. But, in an effort to increase my name recognition, to profligate my name and book out there, I've made the difficult decision to remove Sweetwater Springs from Nook, and from Smashwords and go exclusively with Kindle (for now).
#2 - Signup to Kindle Select couldn't be much easier. Since I already had my book published through their KDP platform, I simply had to click the button and mark the checkbox. It really was that simple.
#3 - The Kindle Select program is a 90 day contract. My goal is to use the next 90 days to really offer my book and get noticed more. I have more books getting ready for publication and name recognition is huge. 90 days seems to be a good starting point to focus on this goal.
#4 - During each 90 period (and they auto-renew you after 90 days unless you 'opt-out'), you get 5 'free days'. These are promotions you must setup. You set the price, you set the day it will start, and the day it will end. The promotion takes effect at midnight (their time) on the day you specify, and similarly, ends at midnight their time on the day you select to end the promotion.
#5 - To get a good start on my marketing in this manner, I setup my first promotion to begin on day 1. (that's today). So, at 10:30pm MST last night, my book was enrolled in the KDP select program and at midnight (their time), my book went on promotion. I decided to offer the book for free for the first two days. Yes, that means for today and tomorrow, (until midnight tomorrow night), the Sweetwater Springs will be free to anyone who has access to the KDP Select program (Amazon Prime members). Furthermore, the Select program offers the Borrowing feature, which I'm still learning more about.
#6 - Much to my surprise this morning at 7:00am MST, I had already had 150 'sales'. And by 'sales', I really mean free downloads, because the book is currently listed for free. The 'sales' numbers continue to climb and as of right now, 8:30am MST, I'm at over 200 'sales'. (I'll continue to put quotes around the word 'sales' until I actually start making money. :] )
And to close this morning, I had done lots of reading about people posting their book's rankings on Kindle. For the life of me I just couldn't figure out where to get those numbers. But after significant research, I finally found it. Amazon Author Central: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/landing There, after registering and logging in, you can see your book(s) and their current rankings. Since I am still very new to this, I'm still learning and I'll post more as I figure it out.
For now, though - On we go with Kindle Select! Free book all day today and tomorrow. Check out Sweetwater Springs, FREE for a limited time, here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KYIZ76
And if you have more insight to the KDP Select program, or comments, please feel free to post below.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Book Giveaway
Notice:
The '10 Free Books' giveaway has been canceled effective 10:30pm MST 02.23.2012 due to a change in our marketing plan. Please stay in touch for a notice of our new plan.
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In yet another effort to get me moving on my blog, Twitter and Facebook, I've decided to do a giveaway of my Novel "Sweetwater Springs". (click here to read about it) The way I figure it is that if I have people contacting me about this, I'll be forced to check-in, update and follow. So, You have become my inspiration to get back into the cyber-social world.I promise to stay up-to-date on this, reply in a reasonable time-frame and provide you with your coupon quickly. This is my motivation to get me moving again in the digital world.
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