Hello from Denver - self publishing success

[Held for Ransom]

Great thread Held for Ransom and congrats on your success. You mentioned having an author website to have more credibility and building a list. Have it helped increase your sales? Do you think building a list makes any difference when it comes to publishing fiction on Amazon?

Uhhhm, not really. I did it early on. It was easy to setup and it's automated at this stage. Every time I publish something new, I'm sure a certain percentage of readers buy from the list. I would probably still do it if I was starting over from scratch. There's nothing wrong with looking professional but it's not gonna matter a whole lot to the bottom line IMO.

You haven't wrote a lot about marketing - do you really just hit "publish" and let Amazon work for you? No contacting blogs, submitting book promotions to websites etc?

Yeah, I just hit "publish". Except I also hit it at Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Smashwords, Kobo, etc. Never say never but at this point, that's all I've done. I decided early on to follow JA Konrath's advice in this regard...

Get Over Yourself

I have turned off Google Alerts, and don't Google my name or my pen names.

I don't go on message boards.

I don't read my book reviews.

I don't care what people are saying about me, good or bad, in blogs or on Twitter or in the media.

There will always be people who don't like you, and don't like your books.

Ignore them.

Trust me, it is liberating to be free of the opinions of strangers. We all need to focus on our writing. Because the millions of readers out there don't care about your blog. They aren't searching for you on Twitter and avoiding your books based on the comments of others. They aren't taking one star reviews seriously.

It's very easy to obsess in this business. But I haven't seen a single shred of evidence that obsession helps careers.

The thing that I have seen, over and over, is people finding success by writing good books.

I really think it is possible to make a very nice living by writing and not worrying about anything else.

We all want to believe we're doing something good for our careers, so we abuse social media, buy ads, rigorously defend our good name, cultivate media contacts, make appearances, and celebrate our own very minor celebrity.

Let it all go. Spend your time working on your books. That's the only thing that really matters, and the only thing you have control over.

PS. May I have a look at your tool too?

PM sent.

 

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[Held for Ransom]

Updates on my setup...

So I've made some major changes to my writing setup recently. I was having all kinds of chronic neck and back pain some of which kept me bedridden for weeks on end. It's basically been a problem since January but it reached a breaking point in the late spring.

Anyway, I finally had some breakthroughs with my therapy. In addition to that, I have since invested considerable amount of money into a sit stand desk, a new computer set up with multiple monitors and also I have revisited utilizing dictation software.

I am using the latest version of Dragon Naturally Speaking (Version 12). The single most important advancement that they've come up with is an app which allows you to do dictation through your smartphone. This is great for me because whenever I'm stuck I tend to walk around and think about what I want to write next.

In the past, I would have to walk back to my computer, sit down make a quick note of my idea and then get back up. Now, the app is always running on my phone and so if I get stuck while I'm typing I can walk around until the ideas come to me. And I find that the more I use the app the less and less I type. I am just getting better at dictating my books.

So, I just thought I'd throw that out there. I'll continue to experiment with it but at this point if I can realize a 20% increase in my typing speed that could mean 20% more books per year. Of course book sales could grow by much more than 20% since it's not linear by any means.

Hope that is useful to someone.

 

[Michael Raphael]

I had a question about this... what percent royalty did you take and what do you charge for a book with lets say 10,000 words versus 30,000 words, does it matter or all your books are a fixed priced regardless page/word count?

Thank you for your time and insight.

 

[Held for Ransom]

At this point, I price any standalone title at $2.99. I know there's price elasticity with longer works as I've seen plenty of it. I can't say that I've experimented with it yet. I plan to at some point, most likely $3.99.

 

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[Michael Raphael]

Is there a way to test this theory with the same book? Do you know if Amazon allows you to test prices for two weeks (two prices one month)? That way I can make the best assessment or is it just not possible due to too many variables and such?

Anyways I appreciate your response I was going to sell it for that price. Thanks so much!

 

[Held for Ransom]

Do you know if Amazon allows you to test prices for two weeks (two prices one month)?

You own everything about your e-book - pricing included. So, you can test as many price points as you like. The thing to keep in mind about Amazon especially is that you have a limited window of time to test most of your theories.

The reason for this is that Amazon's algo is *heavily* slanted towards new releases. So, once you've been in the system for a 10 - 14 days, you're initial Also Bought list has populated.

From my experience, the books that are in your Also Boughts are the single biggest indicator of the strength of your book in the Kindle store overall and consequently, your sales. In other words, if you can figure out how to get on the bestselling Also Boughts of the top sellers in your niche (and vice versa), you will stack the odds in your favor as much as possible.

But, and this is a *big but*, it is absolutely bulletproof from a "gaming standpoint" AFAIK. There is no way to manipulate this to the best of my knowledge. If anyone knows differently, please PM me and I will wire transfer $100,000 to you tonight.

Not kidding.

IMO, this is exactly the reason why "book bombs" don't work. A book bomb, for those that don't know, is a coordinated purchase of a new book. Yes, there is an initial boost in sales (and rankings) in the Kindle store. But, over time, the algo pairs your title up with people who *actually buy* books like yours not a random group of people that have been thrown together.

At the end of day, if the books that make up your ABs ARE NOT big money titles, your ranks and sales will sink and sink and sink...

Ask me how I know.

 

[Michael Raphael]

How do you know? Haha well I appreciate your input. You definitely have done a lot of work in doing this and I am actually going to be doing something similar. Wanted to test the waters first, but I have 2/3 books I want to get on the market. I don't expect 20k profit but what ever I get I will take. It will be fun to see what happens

All in all, if I get even 1000 readers I will be satisfied. So with that said, do you ask for 30% royalties or 70% on your standalone books? Thanks again HFR!

 

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[sitemaster]

So with that said, do you ask for 30% royalties or 70% on your standalone books?

HfR answered this question previously.

I always choose 70% for my royalty rate. I think if you opt for 35%, you can opt out of lending but to me that's nickels holding up dollars so I really don't care.

 

[Michael Raphael]

Oh wow I apologize. I asked earlier, I just must've read over it or forgotten. Thank you sitemaster, I appreciate it. Sorry for my carelessness, I should probably head to bed, late, long game of soccer. Need sleep haha.

Thanks again boss.

 

[Rawr]

Two more questions to the wise:

It looks like my book is coming out around 130 pages. (x words/250) In Romance/Erotica, what number is it good to aim for as far as (at least x pages. and 'x pages to hold longer')

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like we shouldn't get too explicit with the particular female body part names? "entered me" leaves so much for imagination , so is there a rule on this at all? Are we safe using guy's parts as they are, but for women keep it light for better sales?


Thanks

 

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[Held for Ransom]

It looks like my book is coming out around 130 pages. (x words/250) In Romance/Erotica, what number is it good to aim for as far as (at least x pages. and 'x pages to hold longer')

Whatever number is appropriate for the story. There's no rules really, especially if you are over in Erotica where most titles are half that length, if that.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like we shouldn't get too explicit with the particular female body part names? "entered me" leaves so much for imagination , so is there a rule on this at all? Are we safe using guy's parts as they are, but for women keep it light for better sales?

You will see all kinds of opinions on this subject. I think that unless you are dealing with very mainstream Romance subject matter, it's really up to you. Even in Romance sub niches, there is a lot of variance.

You have to remember that many of the *rules* about what is (or isn't) acceptable in these genres are a holdover from the days when publishers essentially told you what you must do to get accepted by them for inclusion into their catalog.

Those days are largely over.

Granted, there are still expectations on behalf of the Romance reader (HEAs, etc.) that you must keep in mind. But, when it's all said and done, just give *your niche* what it expects and you'll be okay. "Rules" are much looser these days. I've found that the more you poke at the edges of what's expected, the better.

YMMV...

 

[ChickenHawk]

It looks like my book is coming out around 130 pages. (x words/250) In Romance/Erotica, what number is it good to aim for as far as (at least x pages. and 'x pages to hold longer')

The first book by Jacinda Wilder is only 32 pages. Jacinda (actually a husband and wife writing team) was mentioned on a different thread because "her" combined books make $100,000 a month. The title of the first book is "Big Girls Do It Better." If you look at the one-star reviews, they're mostly complaints that the book is too short. But there are plenty of five-star reviews too. And besides, it sounds like reviews aren't the most important thing, but sales, which she has plenty.

I'll be interested to hear what people say about body parts. I'm not touching that one with a ten-foot, um, pole.

 

[Held for Ransom]

If you look at the one-star reviews, they're mostly complaints that the book is too short.

I have dozens and dozens of these. They're kind of like a rite of passage IMO. And, *I* happen to agree with you that reviews don't matter but on many of the author forums I post on, I am very much in the minority there...

 

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[ChickenHawk]

*I* happen to agree with you that reviews don't matter but on many of the author forums I post on, I am very much in the minority there...

I bet this is partly due to your reasons for writing. You write to make money. If your books sell, you consider the venture a success. I've been involved in writer's groups before, and actually had to distance myself because they believed it was wrong to write with money in mind.

I argued the point. Fiction aside, I pointed out that writing was paying my mortgage and feeding my family at the time. They decided it was okay, because I wrote non-fiction for an employer. The whole thing left me feeling terribly out of sync with the other writers. I drifted away and never went back.

Have I mentioned how much I love this forum? Here, there's no shame in seeking financial rewards for our efforts, or in shaping our efforts with financial rewards in mind.

 

[Held for Ransom]

I've been involved in writer's groups before, and actually had to distance myself because they believed it was wrong to write with money in mind.

Is it possible for us to hijack our own thread here? Seriously, that is so profound CH. There's so much to say on this subject it's ridiculous but I think you summed it up perfectly...

Have I mentioned how much I love this forum? Here, there's no shame in seeking financial rewards for our efforts, or in shaping our efforts with financial rewards in mind.

Speed +++

 

[Rawr]

I look at a book with top 10000 rating in HFR's the excel formula, and THAT'S OK with me if it sells for a few months! Then I look at top 3000 and that looks great. Anything above 1000 that I faint. Considering what a day at the office would be like to earn that money, hell yeah I'd rather suck it up and just write what sells

 

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[Michael Raphael]

HFR, do you believe book covers is an important asset and if so do you mind looking at two of the ones I designed and telling me what you thin?

Also what is your opinion on a copy sale page?

 

[ChickenHawk]

do you mind looking at two of the ones I designed and telling me what you thin?

I'm guessing you probably want to keep your book covers, pen name, etc. anonymous, and if so, I can totally understand that for obvious reasons. But if you're interested in input from a wider audience, you could post the two covers on the forum for input. I bet you'd get a lot of interesting insight.

(Edit: I should add that I don't want to speak for Held for Ransom, but a lot of the members here shy away from giving input one-on-one, because answering multiple, private questions can really eat up a lot of time once they go down that path.)

 

[Held for Ransom]

Anything above 1000 that I faint.

Wait until you get there, then it won't seem like nearly enough...

HFR, do you believe book covers is an important asset and if so do you mind looking at two of the ones I designed and telling me what you thin?

Sure man, I can take a look but my advice in general (again) is to mimic what sells. Look at the bestsellers and study all the elements that they have in common.

Also what is your opinion on a copy sale page?

It's arguably the most important thing of all - even more than the book itself.

I feel like the order of importance is Title, Cover, Description and the first 10-12% of the book that people can read for free (e.g., "Look Inside" feature). I'm not the first one to say all of this by any means but I totally believe it to be the case for me.

It's amazing to me how people will pour all their energy into the book but quit at the finish line by botching one or all of the above. I spend HOURS on the cover, the title and the description sometimes before I ever type a SINGLE word of the actual manuscript.

That's how important I think all of that is.

As far as the "Look Inside" portion, I put the very best of the best of the best stuff I have in the beginning of the book. I want someone to read that and be like, oh yeah, I have to keep going now...

(Edit: I should add that I don't want to speak for Held for Ransom, but a lot of the members here shy away from giving input one-on-one, because answering multiple, private questions can really eat up a lot of time once they go down that path.)

I don't mind as long as folks are patient especially when I'm writing more like I have been again, finally.

 

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[Michael Raphael]

I would post publicly however I am a bit shy of my first work, but with that said, do you believe I should have a pen name?

 

[Held for Ransom]

do you believe I should have a pen name?

That's up to you really. If you want privacy consider it, otherwise it doesn't matter. The only exception might be if you are already well known for whatever and you write a book, then yeah, use the name you're known for. At the end of the day, there's no right or wrong.

 

[Michael Raphael]

As far as the "Look Inside" portion, I put the very best of the best of the best stuff I have in the beginning of the book. I want someone to read that and be like, oh yeah, I have to keep going now...

How long is this Look Inside portion, is it custom, if so how many pages do you typically allow the reader to view. Can I state which pages or is it in chronological order?

Hopefully anyone else who reads this post as a new publisher will have a lot more questions answered I sure as hell have. Thanks chickenhawk and HFR

 

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[Held for Ransom]

Nora Roberts interview...

This was a repeat broadcast, but Nora Roberts was interviewed on "Sunday Morning"... For those that don't know, she is a Romance writer of L-E-G-E-N-D-A-R-Y status.

Highlights...

• She got started as a stay at home mom because her two small boys were driving her crazy and she needed an outlet
• In her 30 year career, she's written more than 200+ books and has 400 MILLION books in print (Hey, how about that... write a lot maybe???)
• To this day, she still thinks that writing is VERY HARD (I was so relieved to hear that...)
• Today, her income is estimated at $60 MILLION annually

Link to the video interview

 

[Held for Ransom]

How long is this Look Inside portion, is it custom

I've experimented with this quite a bit. As near as I can figure it's around 10-12%. Others may have different results but that's what I see most of the time.

So, when I write a story, that % of it (the first 10-12) is always the best stuff I have.

 

[Rawr]

Just thinking out loud here if the first 10-12% is shown, and it makes sense to have that be the beginning to draw the reader in, then the ABDCE formula would work well!

formula when writing a short story, which goes ABDCE, for Action, Background, Development, Climax, and Ending. You begin with action that is compelling enough to draw us in, make us want to know more. Background is where you let us see and know who these people are, how they’ve come to be together, what was going on before the opening of the story. Then you develop these people, so that we learn what they care most about. The plot—the drama, the actions, the tension—will grow out of that. You move them along until everything comes together in the climax, after which things are different for the main characters, different in some real way. And then there is the ending: what is our sense of who these people are now, what are they left with?

I might have mentioned this book this is a really really helpful book on writing and the psychological struggles. Quick read and helps a lot with how to get better. Charachter autonomy and agency is so important for me personally, the part on them writing their own story and you just typing it and saving yourself time is invaluable alone.


Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life: Anne Lamott: 9780385480017: Amazon.com: Books







What is your guy's process on editing? Do you let others read? How good is "good enough?"

 

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[dschwartz06]

Working with Amazon's Algorithm

Great thread here, as I've been slowly building up a solid portfolio on Non-fiction e-books on the kindle store, hiring ghostwriters for under $300/book for quality material. I make sure to hire ghostwriters only with relevant experience on the topic.

From an investment standpoint...even if you price your books at 2.99, the returns on well positioned e-books are freaking incredible. Anything that you can make your money back within a few months is worth looking into. I invest in real estate full time and do this on the side, and a few of my real estate mentors have paid me $1000 just to teach them how to publish their own books! This was validation enough for me to actually create a full training course online to sell within my real estate tribe (www.PublishingProdigy.com if you're interested in checking it out!)

It's true that you lack Control using Amazon, but here's an awesome article that shows you how to work with their algorithm's:

Keys to Understanding Amazon

In particular, it says that your book description should be at least 500 words for maximum SEO exposure...interesting read.

Congrats on your success man, you inspired me to keep growing my portfolio!

-Dan

 

[ChickenHawk]

In particular, it says that your book description should be at least 500 words for maximum SEO exposure...interesting read.

Interesting about the 500 words. I just read my description, and it's only 97 words. I hate the thought of padding it, because I think it might make the book sound boring. I wonder if the situation might be different for fiction versus non-fiction. Any thoughts?

 

[Rawr]

Thanks for the writing scenes you want tip. I was stuck having to write the third love scene and really didn't know what I would do differently... so I was stalling, I skipped to drama part and words just flowed on the paper. Big thx!

I use this one other method of writing dialogue without stopping for "he said", "she replied" or such. So I just write how it would flow. I hope when editing comes this won't be confusing to edit but I do feel it helps me write faster to get to where it needs to go, as well as actually ADDING more to the dialogue, to write how people speak, instead of how a police detective would be interviewing someone, dry and moving it forward too quick.

 

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[Michael Raphael]

Interesting about the 500 words. I just read my description, and it's only 97 words. I hate the thought of padding it, because I think it might make the book sound boring. I wonder if the situation might be different for fiction versus non-fiction. Any thoughts?

Roh Roh. I think I too may need to get back to work. Perhaps include the first chapter or introduction/preface?

 

[COSenior]

I've been lurking on this thread for a while, feeling that as a complete novice in the fiction category, I had nothing to add but plenty to learn. I don't know what the right answer is to the body part question, but I am a female, and I'm naming them. Turns me on, so I figure it turns on some other women too. I started writing after this thread started, and I have sold a handful of the two stories I've published so far.

My only other comment is to Chickenhawk. Dude, do you HAVE a 10-foot um, pole? (Bats eyelashes). JK