Another self publishing progress thread.

[Hicks]

If anyone else is doing non-fiction (with the emphasis on showing someone 'how to' do something) this is what i've discovered.

Tight Focus/Broad Use

1) If you are teaching skiing then tightly focus on a widely recognized aspect of that field...like tricks.
2) Is what you are writing about in broad use? For example if you are teaching Ski tricks: pick a trick that the most people need to know.

I would very much be interested in what others have discovered regarding this (if I've explained well enough), and would be interested to know whether you have found the same to be true.

 

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[COSenior]

with this one I changed the focus so that affected everything.

That makes sense.

 

[Hicks]

Oh dear, I've left this and thus have a lot to report.....but as I'm busy will summarize.


I re-branded that book and.......I was right..been selling really well. I'm about to start part two. I really recommend taking a look at what is working and then applying it to the books that are lagging. You will be surprised. It's not what I think is good but what the market is telling me. Repeat 100 times it's not for me it's for the customers.

I wrote and published a new book directed toward the lower levels. Not selling as well...but still good. This tells me that in my niche you can't release more than one book a month or you actually affect the sales of your other book. Also I've gained some traction amongst a niche within a niche, so any deviation needs to be considered as a new niche. Ha! 3 uses of the same word in one sentence.

*I released a free product on my website to get more email addresses (pm me to find out how i did this). This is working ok. But with MailCheat(Chimp) there is double opt in.With my audience this is not going to work....any suggestions?

I spent a full week putting an old course I wrote online. Am now trying to sort out the membership software...its a nightmare. But hope to be able to take paying customers this week.

*I recorded a listening CD based on a book. I want to release it with a pdf but does that mean that i will have to wait until the kdp select term is up? Any ideas?

*I put my first job on elance and got lots of replies. This is a big step for me as I want to expand into a new genre but don't have the time as I need the first genre as it's my bread and butter. Some of the tenders are hilariously overpriced while others seem a bit low. But I still don't know what is a realistic price. This is for 4000 words and no research; semi creative writing really. Any ideas?

That's about it I think. Slacker!

 

[COSenior]

Aweber used to allow you to select a single opt-in process, but it's very difficult to migrate to a new autoresponder. You have to get all your old customers to opt in again, and that's going to lose some.

Re-read the KDP Select terms. I don't think they can do anything about a product based on the book, but if you recorded it by reading the book word-for-word or the PDF is identical, you probably have to wait. However, I'm not an expert and I didn't look it up. I'd suggest you do that rather than soliciting advice here.

I started doing writing assignments through oDesk rather than elance, so again I'm no expert. However, if you want quality writing, you should probably expect to pay at least 2 cents per word. That's with no research. I wouldn't have done research for less than 5 cents per word, and that's when I started out. Even then, its laughably low. But, to give you an idea of what the range is, I've seen people solicit 5000 word articles with research to be done for $5. For that you get someone from India or somewhere who 'speaks' English. After a fashion. An experienced ghostwriter gets a minimum of $40 per hour, and you should probably expect a 4000 word article to take about two hours. Hope that helps.

 

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[Hicks]

Hello CO senior, as per usual that was incredibly useful. Also as you've pretty much sorted all my problems for today, what do you think i should have for dinner? I just can't decide!

 

[COSenior]

LOL. I would imagine by this time you've either gone to bed without dinner or figured it out.

 

[Hicks]

Ok have just hired my first ghostwriter. It's a complete paint by numbers so if it works out, I will be outsourcing all of the non-technical writing (about 1/3 of each book) to others. Also it's the bit that takes up most of the time, so I'm hoping that it will cut my book writing in this genre to one week a month. Obviously completely unrealistic, but even 2 weeks is better than now, where I'm working in and not on my business.

 

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[Hicks]

Quick hint for non fiction writers.
If you have a free giveaway on your website to capture emails (recommended). Put the link just below the title on your book.
This means that not only people who buy your book but also people browsing will see it.

As far as I know this is not against any rules but check for yourself.

This small change has made a big impact

 

[Hicks]

Quick update.

Ok I've been trying to get my course online for weeks now....been in a seriously bad mood about it. But have just got it sorted. Now need someone to check through the system to make sure it's all working in various countries and it will be ready to go. Very relieved and happy. It was all very technical...so i have no idea how i did it. Just kept on pushing.

 

[COSenior]

Quick update.

Ok I've been trying to get my course online for weeks now....been in a seriously bad mood about it. But have just got it sorted. Now need someone to check through the system to make sure it's all working in various countries and it will be ready to go. Very relieved and happy. It was all very technical...so i have no idea how i did it. Just kept on pushing.

Congrats! This is a big accomplishment, so take time to celebrate the landmark before you jump into something else or something more.

 

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[Hicks]

Congrats! This is a big accomplishment, so take time to celebrate the landmark before you jump into something else or something more.

Good advice. I never thought I'd have to be told to take it it easy for a while! But that's where I'm at now (I did btw, I watched Sci -Fi all Sunday). I, like most people have been bogged down in procrastination many times. I hear a lot of people asking for advice on this site about this problem. There's some good advice but the one thing that is not often mentioned is habit. Being lazy can be a habit. But then so too can being active. Once you do something for long enough it will become habit. Also the other thing I did was to just go to the library everyday. Don't find out what the wifi code is. Turn your phone off. That's it. No complicated goal setting or sending people checks if you miss deadlines. Just sit in the library all day and if you don't get tons done i would be surprised.

I have a quick request. If anyone from Germany, Brazil, Spain, Portugal is reading this...i am looking to find out about discount voucher sites that you have in your country. Could you shoot me a pm.Thanks.

 

[Hicks]

Jeez, it's been a while, but am still at it. This is just a quick note...will do a detailed update soon. The books have been going steady and I have started to try to make 'Ingram-Spark' work for me....but not much news there yet, it's infinitely more complicated than Amazon. I have also started a side business teaching self-publishing. That's early days but seems to be going well so far.

Anyway must get back to writing now but will be more active on this forum again from now on.

 

[Hicks]

Well been very busy and am happy to say that I pretty much lived just off of the sales of books last year. Very happy about that. I've also set up a small company and am doing other publishing related projects as well, so this year is promising to be very exciting as well; love entrepreneurialism.


I am thinking of making a Udemy course on how to translate your book and sell on foreign Kindle sites (an 'increase your sales' type of thing). Like anything translating can be done be done badly/easily but as i've been doing it for a year and a half I've picked up lots of tricks. Would anyone be interested in this type of course? (I believe I can issue free tokens). If you have a specific thing you are interested in then please let me know, there's a good chance I can help.

Thanks.

 

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[Aimee]

Haha, I liked reading through this. I'm glad it's all coming together for you! Looking forward to watching your progress!

 

[Hicks]

Hey Aimee, thanks for reading. I'm terrible with updates but do follow other's progress threads diligently. What do you think about the course on getting your books translated...as an author do you think that would be something you would be interested in? If I do it I'll obviously try to get you a free coupon, Just interested in whether this is something authors are looking to get done properly.

Thanks

 

[ChickenHawk]

I am thinking of making a Udemy course on how to translate your book and sell on foreign Kindle sites (an 'increase your sales' type of thing). Like anything translating can be done be done badly/easily but as i've been doing it for a year and a half I've picked up lots of tricks. Would anyone be interested in this type of course?

Very interesting! To answer the question, I'm not 100% sure I'd personally be interested in the course (just because courses aren't something I've been drawn to, for whatever reason). But I do think there's something to this. More and more on podcasts, etc., I've heard authors/podcasters mention the growing international market and expanded income you could make from foreign translations.

For a while now, I've been mulling getting a couple of my books translated into German. But it's hard to figure out where to start, especially because once the translation is done, the author really has no easy way to tell if it's a good translation or not. That's probably what's stopping me from the translation thing. I'd rather put out zero translation than a substandard one.

All this to say, I think if you have good information to provide on this topic, I'm betting that authors will be interested. In this case, I'd think your primary target market would be authors who are already making decent sales in the U.S. (or perhaps different home countries), and are looking to capitalize on the translation thing to generate more income from their existing products.

 

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[Hicks]

thank you for the feedback. very helpful. I can suggest a very good German translator. very honest so would let you know if she could do it. I've kissed a lot of frogs so know what look out for. if it's a major work it's good to get a chapter done...then read by someone you trust and then even proofread by a professional....but nothing beats getting the right person off the bat. another quick technique is to get them to translate the title...then put it into google translate and if it comes out as something totally uninspired, then this a red flag. also make the wording of the proposal slightly long winded with a half hidden question. if they miss it and don't reply..another red flag.

 

[Aimee]

Hey Aimee, thanks for reading. I'm terrible with updates but do follow other's progress threads diligently. What do you think about the course on getting your books translated...as an author do you think that would be something you would be interested in? If I do it I'll obviously try to get you a free coupon, Just interested in whether this is something authors are looking to get done properly.

Thanks

I pretty much agree completely with @ChickenHawk in that courses aren't necessarily something I'm drawn to, but translating is definitely completely foreign to me (if you'll pardon the pun ) as I don't have the faintest idea whether what I'm paying for is any good or not and I wouldn't have a clue where to start. I'd say you'd definitely find some interest in it though, especially as things like KU is opening up to other countries. Maybe if you know of any trustworthy translators you can even advertise or recommend them to your audience.

 

[Hicks]

Hello!
just a quick update. I made the Kindle Allstars last month. Not the US one but still pretty good I think. I didn't even know it existed so that was a nice surprise.
Also started writing the udemy course of translating so I'll keep you posted.

Back to writing now....

 

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[Aimee]

Hello!
just a quick update. I made the Kindle Allstars last month. Not the US one but still pretty good I think. I didn't even know it existed so that was a nice surprise.
Also started writing the udemy course of translating so I'll keep you posted.

Back to writing now....

Woo that sounds awesome, nice one!

 

[Hicks]

Woo that sounds awesome, nice one!

Thanks, it was the German one so still pretty generous. I plan on milking it to death.

 

[Aimee]

Thanks, it was the German one so still pretty generous. I plan on milking it to death.

Haha I don't blame you! Is there an Allstars for every country, or just a select few?

 

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[Hicks]

Haha I don't blame you! Is there an Allstars for every country, or just a select few?

hi i think its just the US, Germany and the UK at the moment (in order of size of bonus).

 

[ChickenHawk]

Hello!
just a quick update. I made the Kindle Allstars last month. Not the US one but still pretty good I think. I didn't even know it existed so that was a nice surprise.

Oh wow, congrats!!! Aside from the extra money, this seems like an excellent sign that you're building a strong audience.

 

[Hicks]

Oh wow, congrats!!! Aside from the extra money, this seems like an excellent sign that you're building a strong audience.

Hi,
Yes fame at last. At least it is for my female pen name/alter ego. Sales are definitely going in the right direction, I matched the last financial year in the past two months which was pretty unexpected and very timely.
So things are going well at last. The major change has been micro managing my time and only experimenting a bit and then going back to what works and then doing the same again until I find something new that works as well.

 

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[Hicks]

Funny (?) bad review story. I have just started a new pen name and am experimenting with something new. Anyway I had a 5 star review, then I got a 2 star review and the original reviewer took theirs down and said it was because of the new review (WTF?). Then I was going to report the two star to Amazon as it contained profanity (I checked her reviews and they are mostly 1 star so could be worse!). I was just about to write the letter when I got another review...this time 1 star. So now i can't do the review take down as I'll be left with a 1 star review!

Two lessons learnt:
Use a new pen name if you are going to deviate too much from what is currently working. (Luckily I did this).
If people really don't like it: listen to them.

 

[Rawr]

Funny (?) bad review story. I have just started a new pen name and am experimenting with something new. Anyway I had a 5 star review, then I got a 2 star review and the original reviewer took theirs down and said it was because of the new review (WTF?). Then I was going to report the two star to Amazon as it contained profanity (I checked her reviews and they are mostly 1 star so could be worse!). I was just about to write the letter when I got another review...this time 1 star. So now i can't do the review take down as I'll be left with a 1 star review!

Two lessons learnt:
Use a new pen name if you are going to deviate too much from what is currently working. (Luckily I did this).
If people really don't like it: listen to them.

Heh, sorry to hear that, and thank you for posting this. I had literally JUST put two books out there, and after losing sleep over whether to put them under a new pen or not, I decided to do so. They're not like my brand of the book, but they are still books and could be useful if they make money. Good luck on building your brand bigger.

 

[Peakdesire]

Nice thread! I also just got into self-publishing.

What advice you could give to someone whos just starting out? I'm outsourcing the writing and publishing non-fiction for now. Just released my first book and paid promotion is starting at thursday

 

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[Hicks]

Heh, sorry to hear that, and thank you for posting this. I had literally JUST put two books out there, and after losing sleep over whether to put them under a new pen or not, I decided to do so. They're not like my brand of the book, but they are still books and could be useful if they make money. Good luck on building your brand bigger.

Hi, yes I think you made the right decision to be honest. If your present audience buys your new 'new style' book and then starts to 'hate' on it then it can be difficult to get out of that; especially with the non-fiction.
I released the second book for the new pen name and people (in one country) really don't like it. They may have gone easier if i used my original pen name as they love that stuff but I'm glad i didn't do that, if only so i don't worry about messing up all my hard work so far.
Same as you I still think you should release them though...it's still money and great market research. Please let us know how it goes; I'll check over on your thread.

 

[Hicks]

Nice thread! I also just got into self-publishing.

What advice you could give to someone whos just starting out? I'm outsourcing the writing and publishing non-fiction for now. Just released my first book and paid promotion is starting at thursday

Hi, thanks, I appreciate it. It's difficult to give specific advice as I don't know your genre (you can pm me if you like). I do think you need to be careful with the outsourcing of non fiction. I think that with non-fiction it's either sheer volume of output or quality. In some cases you can do both but you need a formula and that can be more difficult than with fiction.
I now outsource some of it, but I have a strict formula that I have worked out and then I'm very strict with the editing. In fact my guess is that it takes me longer to edit than it did for them to write (I'm a slow writer so it's still worth it for me).

Without knowing your situation here is my very general advice.
1) Get a formula.
2) Write in series (of three if the books are 10-15 thousand words).
3) Bundle the books a few months after book three sales have settled down.
4) release the paper version of the bundle at the same time as the bundled ebook.

I have found that the bundles of non-fiction massively outsell the smaller books. As it's non-fiction people don't seem to mind paying more but it has to be worth it.

I hope that helps and feel free to pm me specific questions about your individual case.

Good luck