Project Amazon- My eBook Journey

[csalvato]

To clear up the science stuff: from Rippetoe's practical programming...

You can promote whatever you want though. It's your book.

In my book on handstands, I purposefully went against the grain and told people something called the "hollow body position" is useless for beginners -- when it is something most acro gurus focus on first thing.

A lot of popular books go WAY against the grain and even tout total bullshit (that the author honestly believes) and make tons of money, and actually help tons of people (because anything is better than being sedentary.)

People who use my book get amazing results. I have tons of testimonials. That's what matters.

But this method of processing critique/input is unacceptable from an entrepreneur IMHO.

 

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[GuestUser116]

So an update, sales average out to 2-3 books /day. I make almost nothing, around $150 /month 100% passive income. It's pretty slick tho, I do nothing at all and get that $150 /month. There's nothing to do, not like I'm just going to stare at the screen and wait for more sales. Actually these past weeks I didn't do shit at all.

 

[Writer]

So an update, sales average out to 2-3 books /day. I make almost nothing, around $150 /month 100% passive income. It's pretty slick tho, I do nothing at all and get that $150 /month. There's nothing to do, not like I'm just going to stare at the screen and wait for more sales. Actually these past weeks I didn't do shit at all.

Honest question. Shouldn't you be working on new products or improvements for the old ones?

 

[GuestUser116]

Honest question. Shouldn't you be working on new products or improvements for the old ones?

No. I have 4 books, and there is no point in improving the old ones, they're already improved. See if a book is already published and gets lost with all the other books on Amazon then no matter how much improvement you make, no one will see the book. It already lost it's potential.

 

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[ChasingPaper]

There not sh*t to do for the last few weeks...? You should be making more eBooks or working on your next project or something. I pretty much for the most part gave up on eBooks, would like to pursue it when I have more time. (I'm not getting as many sales as you, your a better author then I am) But in the last 5 days I've made close to $500 flipping an item every day or two. $150 is pretty sweet though, that's awesome! Are all your books $2.99? I could use some passive income like that, good luck! Don't quit working your just getting started man!

 

[GuestUser116]

Are all your books $2.99? I could use some passive income like that, good luck! Don't quit working your just getting started man!

Yuppp $2.99

in the last 5 days I've made close to $500 flipping an item every day or two.

Tight, takes 3.5 months with ebooks haha

 

[GuestUser116]

I want to take my biz to the next level. How do I do that? Amazon is ripping me off, but if I price the books at a higher price no one will buy. I'm not asking for a business idea, just want to know my options.

 

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[GuestUser116]

Got a bestseller in a sub niche in Germany!!!

 

[ChasingPaper]

Got a bestseller in a sub niche in Germany!!!


View attachment 8200

Sweet, how much $ that pulling in? Did you market it?

 

[GuestUser116]

Sweet, how much $ that pulling in? Did you market it?

I'll tell you in a month. No marketing.

 

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[Yasai]

Heh. I like the fact that you're really straight-forward with little to no fluff (in this thread. Haven't read your books/pamphlets yet ;P)

You have "proof of concept": You created a product, published it, got money out of it.
That's usually the backbone of a business. You can basically use a cookie-cutter approach now. That stuff worked once -> It will probably work in the future. Just rinse/repeat until you're satisfied with the profits, improving/adjusting stuff in the process.

Did'cha notice that people are almost rioting over something like rep-counts (in this thread)?
That's usually a good sign (it means that potential customers are almost irrationally passionate about a given subject. Many emotional hotbuttons you can press there to boost sales, if necessary).
But I would be a bit careful with the provocative stuff, though. You might drive away people that would have otherwise liked/purchased your other products, if they (read: you) didn't hit the button on their ejector seat.

Be lighthearted and balanced about certain stuff. No need for antagonism, really (unless you target hardliners). This way, you won't cripple your sales and still make your point.

 

[princephoenix]

http://chrissalvato.com/28-day-handstand-challenge-how-to-do-a-handstand/
Check your PMs.

Love the website! I'm from Brooklyn as well, and that site alone made me sign up! Also you snowboard! That's my main goal motivating me in my fastlane, to snowboard year round! Keep up the good work!

 

[GuestUser116]

Be lighthearted and balanced about certain stuff. No need for antagonism, really (unless you target hardliners). This way, you won't cripple your sales and still make your point.

About the reps thing, if someone doesn't want to try something out of the ordinary, yet claims it doesn't work then I don't even want that someone reading/buying my book.

 

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[Newbophobia]

I don't mean to be a hater or start problems since this is my first post, but you are being ignorant glacier. As Tai Lopez would say "if you want success in life, you have to be a humble person". I personally would kill for the advice the above posters gave you. They took time out of their day to help you out rather than just ignoring your thread. You look at the most successful people in the world and they tend to be the most humble people you will ever meet. Take for instance Sam Walton the founder of Walmart. He was arrested in Brazil for crawling on his hands and knees in the local supermarket there. When his host family that was there arrived in the prison and asked him "why were you crawling on the floor Sam"?

His response was "I was measuring the width of the aisles". "I was trying to see if the people in Brazil knew something that I didn't". Here you have a billionaire on his hands and knees trying to learn how to be better. Then there's you who was served great advice on a silver platter, and all you do is insult the people who are trying to make you better. Unless your attitude changes you will not go far and no one will feel sympathy for you.

I know this all may seem harsh but it's something you need to hear.
And by the way I will gladly take any advice you guys would be willing to give me on my website nattybodybuilding.com that the website that I just started up with the goal of helping people achieve better bodies and stronger minds. Eventually i plan to monetize the site through some affiliate marketing and possible e-books once I build up a fan base. I will be glad to take any advice, ideas or questions that you may have for me. Hell I will even pay some of you to coach me once I start accumulating some money. At this point I'm just a broke 19-year-old trying to make a name for himself. Thanks so much for the help guys, and I am sorry if you're not allowed to post links on this forum. I'll read over the rules after this post.

-Ty Graber

 

[Yasai]

Hey Glacier, any updates on your sales?

 

[stockyal]

Hi glacier, where do you resource your information from? just from articles and change it into your own words? and do you carry out the workout and nutrition plans in real time and write about your resutls to give the reader real value? this isnt a beggining of an argument i am interested in your story haha.

 

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[RicTur]

Glacier,

I have not taken a look at your books yet, but was wondering what your approach was on execution? Did you complete all of the books and publish at once to Amazon, or did you give an individual approach to all? Reason I am asking, and anyone can chime in, is I am a Children's book writer, and working on a 10 book series at the moment becoming anxious with execution. I have two books completed, and will start the 3rd book this weekend, but would like to execute on at least one of them. Maybe I'm pulling the trigger to soon, and was looking to see if i should wait and complete all ten, then each book do a free week release to gain attraction and reviews, then price it, then release the next free for a week, and continue the cycle? My Conscious mind is always telling me process is key and that I should have a link in every book to the other books, but would require me to finish the others first. Does this make sense? Let me know your thoughts, as I will continue writing either way, just looking for some guidance so I can execute the best way possible. Thanks in advance everyone, and have a wonderful weekend ahead!

 

[Yasai]

Hi RicTur,
I'm going to chime in hehe
You're considering making every new book available for no cost right?

I'm all for giving out as much free stuff as possible.
I think releasing the first couple of chapters or pages of your book for free might be a good alternative, too.
Releasing your first book for the full price and then follow up with 1 or 2 Free Books (maybe for everyone, or maybe just for the people on your list/newsletter as a sign of good will) might work well too. Do whatever feels "right" for you
(Your idea is probably better, depending on your market).

As for continuity: Yes, you should probably link your books in some way.
I know children's books probably don't provide many opportunities to come up with a cliffhanger, but maybe you can find a way to make people (parents, children) hungry for what might happen next.

Oh and don't be ashamed to basically write the same story with different words/settings over and over again, if that's what your market REALLY loves and enjoys (along with your other stories, of course).
It might seem repetitive to you, but it's not about you hehe. It's about serving them and what they find pleasure in.

Quick Example: Like many children, i enjoyed stuff such as "Pokemon" when I was young. I didn't even care that every episode of the TV series was basically the same with minor variations and somewhat slow-ish plot development. I ate that stuff up haha.

Same goes for music. Ever got creeped out by your favourite Band because they got "too experimental"? (Some People mention "Chinese Democracy" as an example). It's the same thing.

Hope that was helpful

 

[GuestUser116]

Hey Glacier, any updates on your sales?

The bestseller rank dropped, what a let down :/

So sales still average to 2-3 /day.

Hi glacier, where do you resource your information from?

Experience.

After finding what works I put it into words.

Glacier,

I have not taken a look at your books yet, but was wondering what your approach was on execution? Did you complete all of the books and publish at once to Amazon, or did you give an individual approach to all? Reason I am asking, and anyone can chime in, is I am a Children's book writer, and working on a 10 book series at the moment becoming anxious with execution. I have two books completed, and will start the 3rd book this weekend, but would like to execute on at least one of them. Maybe I'm pulling the trigger to soon, and was looking to see if i should wait and complete all ten, then each book do a free week release to gain attraction and reviews, then price it, then release the next free for a week, and continue the cycle? My Conscious mind is always telling me process is key and that I should have a link in every book to the other books, but would require me to finish the others first. Does this make sense? Let me know your thoughts, as I will continue writing either way, just looking for some guidance so I can execute the best way possible. Thanks in advance everyone, and have a wonderful weekend ahead!

I don't know anything about children's books. What I did was write 2 books and release them at nearly the same time. Then, whenever I wrote a new book I just released it.

In your case, I'd release the first book and collect a list; letting readers know there's more coming. So by the time your new book is up, it will have some ready readers.

 

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[RicTur]

You're considering making every new book available for no cost right?

Yasai,

Thank you for your kind reply. I think what I left out was that each book will only be released for free for 1 week to build reviews and attraction. Once the week passes, I will release it for let's say 2.99 the remainder of the month and hopefully draw in sales. Then, the next month I will do the same thing for the second book and so on. I am a little hesitant on this approach as I would love to just release all of them at once, but want to do this the most effective way possible. I've done a lot of research on execution, and also like the idea to offer the free few chapters and book give-aways for mailing list contributors. I really like that Idea, and have it down on my inspired actions for once I get MailCheat(Chimp) account configured. Thanks again for the insight, and here's to a successful execution, and good luck with your future endevours, wherever they may lead you!

-Rick

 

[RicTur]

The bestseller rank dropped, what a let down :/

So sales still average to 2-3 /day.

Glacier,

I may have something that will help you out. Like I said in a previous post, i have read and researched a little on execution and ways to gain attraction to your books. I recently came across a pod cast from a successful best selling author on The Self Rocking Publisher (Great podcast by the way for Indie Authors) that we should not be using Amazon as if we were trying to sell a book on amazon (Everyone takes this approach), we should be using Amazon like a search engine to help find our books (Do this by keywords). Here are a few key notes from this pod cast:

- If your book is about free weight lifting, you should start by going to amazon, and typing free weight lifting, and see what Amazon auto indexes next. This means the options that are given after you type free weight lifting, so e.g. free weight lifting "your life to success" or free weight lifting "for body builders." The text between "" is what Amazon recomends for searches. Jot down a few and take notes. Then visit those links and check the top left to see how many books are in that category. This will also work for your current title to see where your competition is. Getting back on track, if that number in the top left is over 500, change your search keywords for your book as there are too many competitors in your category. Less than 500.... tie those keywords into your book, whether in your title, and or your 7 keywords that I think Amazon allows you to have per book.

In your case, I'd release the first book and collect a list; letting readers know there's more coming. So by the time your new book is up, it will have some ready readers.

I like your idea on this as I have also read this elsewhere. I just didn't know how to approach it with children's books. I now I have an idea on what I would/should do now with the help of you and Yasai. I will run a final draft on the first book, with a mail chimp account at the end for a mailing list, and start on the website for my books. This way I can execute and finish the second. Thanks for the input guys. Hope what I mentioned above will help shed some light Glacier. Take a look into that Podcast too. May give you some insight. Thanks again, and take care. I'll update everyone on my progress as well!

-Rick

 

[GuestUser116]

(Deleted)

 

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[GuestUser116]

New release, 20 Minute Workout

 

[SYK]

Try to use some more variety in your paid/friend/self reviews (or alternatively get legit reviews). They're too similar and obviously staged.

 

[Harry321]

What is the average length of your books?

 

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[Hicks]

Considering making a different language version of my best selling book; anyone have experience with this?

Hey, I know that this is very late and I haven't read the whole thread yet so don't know if anyone's replied..but yes I have a ton of experience with this. I release all my books in different languages. PM if you need some help, but I would start by looking at Germany first and then maybe Japan.

 

[GuestUser116]

Try to use some more variety in your paid/friend/self reviews (or alternatively get legit reviews). They're too similar and obviously staged.

Only half are paid reviews.

What is the average length of your books?

Pretty short, 12-20 pages.

 

[Hicks]

Only half are paid reviews.

Pretty short, 12-20 pages.

None my business, but paying for reviews is a slippery slope. I see this in my genre and people often actually write and 'call the author out' on it. Pretty off putting for prospective customers. Non-fiction is a world based on 'reputation'. They are buying because they trust that you are the expert. Just something to think about.

Also there are ways to pad the page count. Depending on price, page count does affect a customer's decision to purchase your book. Definitely something to consider. I've seen lots of people on this forum saying that 'as long as it's got the info in it that's all that matters' then when the book doesn't sell you never hear from them again...sounds harsh but you see it a lot. My view is that with non-fiction you can get away with 10-12000 words for a $2.99 others may disagree but that's what I've found.

Hope this helps

 

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[Gale4rc]

No marketing.

I get the sense you're proud of this.... It's definitely not something to be proud of.

I read another thread that said you want to work 24/7 - Clearly you're not working hard if you're only publishing 10-12 pages books and hoping they magically become successful.

 

[GuestUser116]

I get the sense you're proud of this.... It's definitely not something to be proud of.

I read another thread that said you want to work 24/7 - Clearly you're not working hard if you're only publishing 10-12 pages books and hoping they magically become successful.

Where can I market for cheap?