[PROGRESS THREAD]: Six-figure Fiction

[Thriftypreneur]

I have consistently found that the words done during the bad periods are often just as good as the ones when you feel like they're flying from underneath your fingers.

So far, after starting my new schedule today and taking the focus away from words per day and just focusing on hours worked, I noticed a really, really good bump in output. Probably because I wasn't bogging myself down with trying to hit a word goal or make each sentence a masterpiece. After quitting for the day and not thinking about writing for the rest of the day (treating it like a job and having "clocked out"), I feel great about it all; much better than I have in weeks. Hopefully the trend will continue.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[COSenior]

Thrify, I think you and I must be twins separated at birth. With the exception of your insecurity about mechanics, I could have written your post from this morning. Except that I don't have the discipline to analyze what's wrong and figure out how to fix it. Maybe it's some sort of rite of passage for new writers, that you must hit a slump after a few months and get through it to consider yourself a 'real' writer.

With regard to the mechanics of writing, I agree with Boyd that you have the basics down instinctively. The problem with Strunk and I'm finding the same problem with software tools, is that they are overwhelmingly aimed at a very formal writing style. People don't talk that way for the most part, so if you attempt to write that way, you end up sounding stiff. I would offer an alternative exercise. Read good fiction. I don't recall whether you have said you are a reader. I have loved reading since I was eight years old and received a copy of Little Women for Christmas. Since then I've read thousands of books, hundreds of which were considered classics. Although I was an English major, I think my understanding of sentence structure came more from reading than from study. Find classic works from your genre, or as near as you can get, and read. I find it difficult to believe when people who aspire to write say they don't have time to read. For me, that's like hearing a musician say he doesn't have time to listen to music, or a painter saying he doesn't care what van Gogh, or Titian, or Michelangelo has done.

I value everything you post, whether or not I agree with you on every point. Your analytical process and conclusions are so helpful, and usually come just at the time I need them. Thank you for contributing to the community despite feeling vulnerable about it.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

With regard to the mechanics of writing, I agree with Boyd that you have the basics down instinctively. The problem with Strunk and I'm finding the same problem with software tools, is that they are overwhelmingly aimed at a very formal writing style. People don't talk that way for the most part, so if you attempt to write that way, you end up sounding stiff.

Definitely agree. That's something I try to keep in mind as I'm learning. I'm sure it's just the perfectionist in me getting a hair up its a** and trying to convince me that because I can't break down a sentence or get confused on some things, that my writing is weak.

Since then I've read thousands of books, hundreds of which were considered classics. I find it difficult to believe when people who aspire to write say they don't have time to read.

Also completely agree. I can only recall 1 fiction book that I've read... in my life. (I can feel you cringing from here!) A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony when I was 10 or something. I do need to work reading into my schedule.

I value everything you post, whether or not I agree with you on every point. Your analytical process and conclusions are so helpful, and usually come just at the time I need them. Thank you for contributing to the community despite feeling vulnerable about it.

Likewise.

 

[COSenior]

Also completely agree. I can only recall 1 fiction book that I've read... in my life. (I can feel you cringing from here!) A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony when I was 10 or something. I do need to work reading into my schedule.

Cringing here, lol. Would you like a suggested reading list?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Thriftypreneur]

Cringing here, lol. Would you like a suggested reading list?

Thanks, but likely a waste of your time. Since I've never been a "for fun" reader, I'm probably going to have to trick my mind into doing it regularly via masking it as research. I'll buy up some best-sellers so I can read and reverse engineer them. Hopefully, doing this, it will go from research to enjoyment.

It'll be interesting to see if getting book two in the same categories will be as difficult.

 

[COSenior]

Thanks, but likely a waste of your time. Since I've never been a "for fun" reader, I'm probably going to have to trick my mind into doing it regularly via masking it as research. I'll buy up some best-sellers so I can read and reverse engineer them. Hopefully, doing this, it will go from research to enjoyment.

The offer was tongue-in-cheek, but your plan is probably a better one if you're sticking to a specific genre. Same reason I'm torturing myself reading dozens of best-sellers in my genre. The trouble with the plan is that best-sellers aren't always good writing, witness 50 Shades of Grey. I still think you do fine with mechanics. You don't need to be able to diagram a sentence to structure one that sounds good.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

One full month after publishing my first book, it's finally listed in the correct categories (after escalating to a supervisor via email). After going through this, I'm scared to ever update the listing of this or any other book I publish. But, after it all, I feel like drinking myself silly in celebration. It was that much of a pain.

Will be interesting to see if putting the second book in the same, exact categories will be as much of a hassle.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Hicks]

Hi,
just had a thought as you mentioned you want to read more books. This book is not in your genre or anything but I'm sure all the writers on this thread will love it. Its called 'aunt Julia and the script writer' its about a writer who writes so much that he loses touch with reality. It is seriously funny and I remember it every time I sit down to do a writing marathon.

 

[COSenior]

a writer who writes so much that he loses touch with reality

That could be me, lol.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

Milestone Update

Book Two in my series is now published (yay!).

I just have to pray that it doesn't take a month to get it in the proper categories, like the last book. On that same note, I've learned something interesting in regards to getting your book in categories using keywords...

The guide I made for getting your book published to non-listed fiction categories (seen here: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/sh...figure-Fiction?p=300969&viewfull=1#post300969) may need to be revised. While emailing support is one way to do it, some additional research shows that the keyword list, used to place your books in the non-listed fiction categories, only work when you publish your book under certain, correct categories. If you publish your book in incorrect categories, the keywords don't work, and won't place your book where you want them to.

So, this means that if you're trying to use keywords to place your book under a Teen & Young Adult > Fantasy sub-genre, the keywords will only work if you publish under the Juvenile Fiction > Fantasy category in your publishing dashboard. Additionally, although they don't make any mention of this (not that I've been able to find), but if you want your book in Teen & Young Adult or a similar type of unlisted category, you have to use the keywords "Teen" and "Young Adult." This information would have been very, very helpful to know! Lol.

The whole thing is really, really confusing, but I'll try to update the step-by-step guide when I get hard results and know that the process does, in fact, work.

About Book Two

Book two clocked in at just under 30,000 words and landed just shy of 90 "estimated" pages. This puts the estimated word count per page at just over 330 words per page. A slight increase from the 315 my last book showed.

Due to lots of personal things going on, and things I've already discussed in this thread, this book took me about a month to complete. Way, way longer than I had intended.

As with all the books I'm planning, this one was listed at $2.99 and will not be put in KDP Select.

Book One Update

After finally getting my categories straightened out with this book, it's had a trickle of sales coming in here and there. Now that more time has passed since my 2-day free promo, I can safely attribute this to the promo allowing me to show up on "Also Bought" lists. Since there were no sales before and there are some now, this leads me to believe that in order for people to actually find your work, it's mandatory to get on "Also Bought" lists. But, naturally, this data isn't pure since I had such a massive issue with my category placement. So it is what it is.

In hindsight, I really wish I had never placed this book in KDP Select (doesn't end until December), due to the nature of the plan I'm trying to execute. For series writers, like I'm trying to be, I think putting the first book in the series as a perma-free title to give you hands-free promotion, is just way, way better than 5 promotional days from the 90-day KDP Select contract.

Between now, letting the KDP Select contract expire, and then, getting Amazon to price match, I'll probably be able to crank out another series before I'm able to try that strategy with this one. Either way, it is what it is.

Writing

The schedule I've been trying to keep for myself (working this like a job) is proving effective for me. I'm the type that thrives on order, routines and schedules, so this makes sense (Hi OCD). I'm also finding that taking the focus away from "words per day" and simply focusing on maintaining the hours worked is really helping ease a lot of the pressure and, not surprisingly, causing me to produce more words per day than I have been or expected (this isn't reflected in the un-tracked days before I started the log below).

I guess taking the focus off of hard and fast production goals has allowed me to free my mind so that I can just write and not worry about all the other stuff. It certainly makes the work more enjoyable for me.

One thing I've noticed, as I continue to research other successful writers, is that many of them keep writing logs to track their progress and productivity - even if they don't have any production or word-per-day goals. At the very least, I think it allows them to see where they're using their time, if it's effective use of their time, and where they can improve use of that time. To that end, I created my own log in a spreadsheet that will help me keep track of my "work week" and the time I use.

(Right-click > View Image to see the full size image)

Although it doesn't show it, I've been trying to write from 8am to 2pm. The honesty of the log already shows me that I've been failing miserably at that, lol (granted there were lots personal/family issues at play that helped thwart this).

Another thing I've already learned from keeping this log is that finishing a book, proofing, editing, and formatting stopped my schedule and word output in its tracks. This tells me that it would probably be good for me to have more than one project going at a time, or at the very least, have the next one ironed out so that I can get right on it and always log a consistent 6+ hour writing session during my work week. I think logging those 6-hour writing sessions, 5 days a week, while doing everything else in my off time, is what's really going to help me out with my production. JKW!

As for the sessions themselves, I'm still training my brain to be able to automatically switch on "writing mode" (a.k.a creativity on demand) by using Cold Turkey during my sessions, combined with listening to Classical for Studying on Pandora, which I never listen to at any other time (think Pavlov's dog).

Guess that's all there is to report. Going to start on book 3 on Monday and pray that it gets done in a more reasonable amount of time than this one.

Also, it's been great following the progress of everyone else and being a part of the great discussions that arise in those threads. I'm really, really grateful to be a part of this small, extremely supportive and accepting writing community. I value each and every bit of the advice, opinions and viewpoints shared (even if I don't agree with them). Knowledge is invaluable and I'm thankful that the people here share it in droves.

Happy writing everyone.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[britnidanielle]

Just looking at your log makes me feel lazy, Thrifty! Good luck!!

 

[COSenior]

Another thing I've already learned from keeping this log is that finishing a book, proofing, editing, and formatting stopped my schedule and word output in its tracks. This tells me that it would probably be good for me to have more than one project going at a time, or at the very least, have the next one ironed out so that I can get right on it and always log a consistent 6+ hour writing session during my work week. I think logging those 6-hour writing sessions, 5 days a week, while doing everything else in my off time, is what's really going to help me out with my production. JKW!

Thrifty, I just love your analytical approach! I think maybe I've said that before, because now I remember the forum software objecting to that word before; but it bears repeating.

I can't write for six hours, usually, because three are paid for and scheduled under contract, and that plus six more is way too much time at the keyboard, but I do feel that I'm more productive when I keep a relatively strict schedule. Contract writing in the morning, right after breakfast. Then a half-hour walk, lunch, and the whole afternoon is mine for my writing--about four hours. Yesterday, I found a fun tracking app on Facebook that not only allows me to keep track of what I do each day, but lets my Facebook fans follow along. I won't keep up a log, been there, done that and it usually lasts about three weeks, not long enough to take the time to set up the spreadsheet. But, kudos to you for not only doing it, but drawing important conclusions from it.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

I can't write for six hours, usually, because three are paid for and scheduled under contract, and that plus six more is way too much time at the keyboard

I wish it was 6 straight hours of fingers-to-keys writing, but there's scene mapping in the beginning, short breaks during, and a little editing at the end; however, the majority of the time is writing and crafting words (I write slow ). It's really just my "shift," so to speak. And thanks again for the kind words, glad you enjoy my over-analytical approach.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[COSenior]

glad you enjoy my over-analytical approach.

We left-brainers gotta stick together! lol But, I think there is a place for it, and within the writing isn't that place, IMHO.

Until the fiction writing for my client came to an abrupt hiatus due to one of the collaborators having personal issues, I was writing the way you are, and I can tell you the writing was very slow. I usually got only 1000 words or less in a three-hour session. The rest of the time was spent in analyzing the comments on the previous day's writing, re-writing where I was asked to, and then finding a way back into the story to make that little progress. My own writing, in contrast, just flows out as fast as I can type. I check the beat sheet and word count now and then, and occasionally tear myself away for a drink of water, but often I will endure physical discomfort longer than necessary because I don't want to turn off the word faucet. One of these days, try it on a short story. Outline, snowflake, beat or mind-map your story in advance, and then just write it. Let your subconscious out to play. See if it isn't just as good.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

Complete Guide to Amazon Category Keywords

After nearly two months of pulling my hair out, I've finally tested and solved the Amazon Category Keywords. After experiencing how much of a royal pain this was and being unable to find complete information online regarding this, I'm posting this here for the rest of the community.

Since I'm unable to edit this post, I humbly ask that a mod remove it. While the outline listed in that post, which instructs you to get support to manually change your categories, can and does work, it's incomplete information that will impede a person's ability to do things as I will outline in this post, which is the optimal way of managing your category listings. Namely because, as I've just been told by support, once certain manual category changes are made to your listing, it becomes locked, and you cannot manipulate your categories through the KDP dashboard without getting the lock removed.

I think the only time you need to have them manually add your book to a listing is when it's a new category and doesn't have any listing in the publishing dashboard, and the category you're going for doesn't have any keywords listed on their keyword list. (These are few and far between, mostly only applying to the absolutely newest sub-genres they've added over the last year or so).

Having said that, on to the guide!

For this example, we'll say our book is a medieval, teen romance with a hint of fantasy.

Step 1 - Find your browse listings.

As many of us know, the categories in the publisher dashboard are very, very different from the browse categories listed in the Amazon store. So the first step is to mark down all sub-genre browse listings that suit your book, while limiting yourself to two main genres. For example:

Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Romance > Historical
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Romance > Paranormal & Fantasy
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Coming of Age
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery

You'll notice that while we selected two main genre listings under Teen & Young Adult (Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance), we can and should select any sub-genres under those two that fit our work.

Step 2 - Choose the corresponding publishing categories in your dashboard

Now we're setting up our categories in our publishing dashboard and getting ready to publish. For the listings we chose above, from our dashboard category list we would choose our two main categories:

JUVENILE FICTION > Love & Romance
JUVENILE FICTION > Fantasy & Magic

Those two listings look quite different from:

Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Romance
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy

But they are related. Since they aren't titled the same (and there's no list out there that says what publishing categories correspond with what browse categories), you'll have to choose whatever you think is the absolute closest match under your publishing dashboard.

Additionally, it's important to note that JUVENILE FICTION houses not only Teen stuff, but Children's books as well. This is where the next step comes in.

Step 3 - Keyword Selection

At this point, Amazon wants you to tell its system where to place your book inside those two main category choices. In order to do that, you have to use specific keywords from this list: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A200PDGPEIQX41

Some categories have multiple keywords listed beside them, but, I think those are there to give you choices between keywords, as I'm sure some keywords overlap with other genres (although I haven't checked this). In my test, everything worked fine when only using one keyword from each item.

From that list, our keywords are: fantasy, sword, historical, coming of age

Now, what they DON'T tell you is that you need to tell the system to place your book in Teen Fantasy and not Children's Fantasy, and the only way to do this is to add either the keyword Teen or Young Adult to your keyword field. (Honestly, do they just expect people to instinctively know to use these unlisted keywords to manipulate their system?) You may need to do this for other genres if the category listed in your publishing dashboard is likely to house more than one main genre, but I imagine this is the only one that does. If not, try using main keywords from your target root category (Like Teen for Teen & Young Adult or Science Fiction for Science Fiction & Fantasy).

So, having said that, our new keyword field should look like this: fantasy, sword, historical, coming of age, teen, young adult

Step 4 - Publish

With all that done, after our book is through the publishing process, it will produce results similar to this:

Look for Similar Items by Category

Books > Teen & Young Adult > Love & Romance
Books > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Romance > Historical
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Romance > Paranormal & Fantasy
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Coming of Age
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Sword & Sorcery

So not only did we not have to fight with KDP support for months and were able to manipulate our listings ourselves, we got 6 individual listings!

It's also important to note that the keywords they provide will only work if you publish your book under the correct, corresponding main categories in your dashboard! (I've tested this, and the keywords have no affect if you publish your book in the wrong category under your dashboard.)

So, there you have it. Amazon's Keyword System finally tested and deciphered. Hope this helps someone.

 

[britnidanielle]

So, there you have it. Amazon's Keyword System finally tested and deciphered. Hope this helps someone.

Thanks Thrifty!

Question, can you add keywords after something has been published?

Never mind: I see you can.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[santa]

Since I'm unable to edit this post, I humbly ask that a mod remove it.

I just had a read of that one, it's actually really useful too, as it says other stuff you've discovered. Not sure, maybe you could repost it here in your thread maybe.

Those two listings look quite different from:

Somethings on Amazon seem more complicated then they need to be. This area is one, great great post thrifty
SPEED+

I've just been told by support, once certain manual category changes are made to your listing, it becomes locked, and you cannot manipulate your categories through the KDP dashboard without getting the lock removed.

Would you mind elaborating a bit here. What do you mean by 'manual changes'...as in asking them via the email to change it?
So using what you said in the post above one should be able to change categories without contacting them, in theory. Have I understood that right?

 

[Thriftypreneur]

"Also Bought" Observations and Thoughts

There's no denying the power of appearing on other books' "Also Bought" lists. Without being ranked in categories, these pages allows you to grab more real estate on Amazon and make sales. One best-selling book holds 90 other books in it's "Also Bought" list. The beautiful thing is, you can appear on an untold number of "Also Bought" lists. So instead of your book only being listed in the categories you've assigned it, you can appear on a countless number of pages within the Amazon bookstore.

But, everyone already knows that. The interesting thing I've noticed is that "Also bought" lists aren't static, they appear to be dynamic, and could probably be more aptly named "Recently Also Bought" lists. A best-selling title in my genre holds 90 titles of also-bought books, while my first listing had 40 titles in its "Also Bought" list and is now down to 30. As time goes on, and a title increases or decreases in popularity, their "Also bought" list seems to reflects that. Amazon likes popularity-fueled lists, so it makes sense to try and appear on as many "Also Bought" lists as you can.

How can you use this information? Well, given that popularity on Amazon fuels popularity, not only should you strive to appear on as many "Also Bought" lists as possible, but you should try to appear on best-selling "Also Bought" lists. Understanding this, a clear strategy presents itself...

What if you were appearing on the "Also Bought" list of the number one title in your genre? Big-name authors go to great lengths to spread news of their promotions far and wide. If you follow any of the authors in your genre, it's not difficult to find out when they're going to do a promotion, and then, you schedule your free promotion to run along side thiers.

Once the promotion is over, they go back to selling like hot cakes, and you, if you managed to give away enough free downloads to crack their lists, get to come along for the ride (at least for a while). If you can't crack their lists, you can target slightly lower ranking titles and do the same thing, piggy-backing your way up the ladder if your promotion days allow it (this is probably why they only limited them to 5, to make this strategy more difficult).

I think the "Also Bought" lists are one of the reason the perma-free loss leaders are so popular. If you're getting 100-300 free downloads a day, and other books are being downloaded for free or purchased along side yours, that's a whole lot of "also bought" lists you're showing up on, even without landing on the lists of best-sellers.

Anyway, I haven't tested any of this, I'm just kinda thinking out loud, and since I'm planning to get out of KDP Select, I thought I would share for those that are staying in. Anyone tried this?

 

[Thriftypreneur]

Would you mind elaborating a bit here. What do you mean by 'manual changes'...as in asking them via the email to change it?

Yes. Emailing them and asking them to manually place you in a category or sub-category. Avoid this at all costs unless you're trying to get into a newer category that there simply isn't another way into (it's my understanding, and I may be wrong, that there are only a handful of these types of categories).

So using what you said in the post above one should be able to change categories without contacting them, in theory. Have I understood that right?

Yes. What I posted was actual results from doing that exact process myself. I didn't have to contact them at all, and my categories were updated after my publishing was re-approved.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[COSenior]

I would speed both of your last two long posts if the forum would let me. Thanks for doing all that work and so generously sharing it. Speed ++!

 

[santa]

What I posted was actual results from doing that exact process myself. I didn't have to contact them at all, and my categories were updated only a couple hours after my publishing was re-approved.

So it could be positive but also dangerous too right?
Even if you don't change the 2 categories, you could change the keywords, and that could effect what lists you are in. So in theory you could be doing decent on one list, getting some visability, change your keywords...which could lead to a different list, different visability...and therefore effect sales either way?
e.g. in theory, to use your example above, you have a book in the kids section, and it's selling okay. You change the keywords to go into the 'teen and young adult'...and this would effect who see's your book and so on.
(obviously this is a bad example as kids and teens are very different demographics but you get my drift i hope).
In theory, have i got that right?

Also bought" lists aren't static, they appear to be dynamic, and could probably be more aptly named "Recently Also Bought" lists.

I've noticed this aswell. It seems as though amazon eeks out every way to maximise sales, and this is a way for them. It means the process is very dynamic, you could be on the 1st page of a 'customer who bought' one day, maybe for that big book, and get a bump in sales....and then maybe not there the next....and it *could* be very hard to work out why one got the bump

I like your idea...I wonder if adding keywords to that bigger book could also help maybe

 

[Thriftypreneur]

In theory, have i got that right?

Edit: Actually, I just re-read your post, and you're right.

Instead of adjusting the category selection interface in the publishing dashboard, all they've done is assign specific keywords to allow you to select those unlisted sub-categories - they don't appear to be for ranking for Amazon search terms, like a search engine does. They really shouldn't call them keywords because of how they're using them in their system. It confuses people.

So yes, changing your keywords in your listing will change what categories your book is showing up in. Their keywords assign you to categories, not search queries.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[santa]

So yes, changing your keywords in your listing will change what categories your book is showing up in. Their keywords assign you to categories, not search queries.

As COSenior said, I would of given you some more SPEED today if I could...I'll do this instead tho SPEED+++++++++++++

That's cleared up ALOT of confusion!

 

[COSenior]

So yes, changing your keywords in your listing will change what categories your book is showing up in. Their keywords assign you to categories, not search queries.

So, if I'm using keywords in a genre/category that has no sub-categories, I might as well not? That may be the thing to do, with Amazon apparently targeting my genre for elimination.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

So, if I'm using keywords in a genre/category that has no sub-categories, I might as well not?

Edit: Removing this part because it's inaccurate, see post further down.

The only thing I can say with any certainty is that the keywords they provide, the ones I linked above, assign you to categories (provided you're published under the correct, corresponding main category). That's their purpose.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Breaking Free]

From what my testing has shown me? Yes, that sounds pretty much pointless. I'm sure people will argue that they help you in search results, but I haven't tested any of that. Leaving them in couldn't hurt if you're showing up where you want.

The only thing I can say with any certainty is that the keywords they provide, the ones I linked above, assign you to categories (provided you're published under the correct, corresponding main category). That's their purpose.

I figure it can't hurt to have them. I'm pretty sure most people browse best seller lists in Amazon, not keyword search for fiction books (it's probably more common with non fiction if you're digging for a niche book), but hey, it's one more tool we have.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

Our Only Real Asset?

Just got done setting up my mailing list and I'm in the process of adding the links to my limited catalog.

/beginrant

Fighting with KDP support again to remove the category lock from my first book so I can optimize the listings before running my last KDP Select promotion.

Really hate to rag on them (Ok, no I dont), but their support has to be the worst of any company I've ever dealt with.

I send them an email asking them to do 2 + 2.

The respond by saying:

Thank you for choosing KDP! I'm sorry that your issue hasn't been resolved with the last 5 emails you sent us, even though you explained your issue ad nauseum. I went over and randomly drew a piece of paper from our "solutions hat" and am in the process of applying whatever the paper said to your account. You should see the changes on the site within 48 hours.

Don't bother responding to this email, because it won't reach us. If you have further trouble, please go through the KDP dashboard so you can play customer support roulette again. Thanks for choosing KDP!

/endrant

Anyway, now that that's out of my system.

I was thinking about fastlane as self-published authors, I think our only real asset is the fan base we cultivate. I'm pretty sure I've seen MJ mention this once or twice before. And, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed to really hurry up and start building an email list.

Not a Facebook page, not a twitter page, but an email list. It's the one thing we can build (besides our books) that we have complete control over.

Here's something interesting about Facebook pages:

With a Facebook page, even if you have 100,000 fans, you're not going to be able to reach even half of them when you post an update.

https://www.facebook.com/marketing/posts/10150839503836337​

Pages organically reach about 16% of their fans on average. To make sure your fans see your stories, sponsor your posts to increase the reach of your content. Read more:

I'm not sure how much that 16% changes with engagement, but I know that they don't allow you to reach 100% without sponsored posts.

I was initially just linking to my Facebook page from my book, but when I remembered that they didn't allow you to reach all of your fans, I quickly got to work on putting my email list together. Even when I make my own online catalog, everything will drive my readers to that email list. I think it's the most important asset we can build, by far.

Let's say you build your own online catalog, link to it from your books, but you're not building an email list. Then, somehow you have a crazy stroke of luck and get mentioned on some popular blog or something. Your sales skyrocket for a few weeks, then begin the normal decline. After it's all said and done, sure, you've had a big increase in sales and cross purchases from your catalog, but you have no way to reach all the new readers who picked up your work.

But, if you were really pushing your email list in your books and on your catalog, after that spike is over, you'll have a lot more readers you can reach every time you release a book or run a promotion. How amazing would it be to have 10,000 people on your list? 10,000 people who already love what you do and are waiting to buy your next product.

Release a new book, send out an email, and bam, hundreds or thousands of buyers right out of the gate. The same with a promotion. I think cultivating an email list is the way to really make this Fastlane and consistently grow your income.

If you're looking to start one, you can signup with MailCheat(Chimp) for free (up to 2000 subscribers!): www.MailCheat(Chimp).com

They're a little more expensive than the industry leader (Aweber), but their interface is very easy to use, and you can always transfer your list later. That's what's beautiful about it... once you build an email list of rabid, buying fans, no one can ever take that from you; not Amazon, not B&N, not Facebook, not MailCheat(Chimp) - it's yours, it's stability, and it's control.

In the ever-evolving ebook market, I think our reader email list is our most important asset. Aside from our own online catalog, it's the only platform we can control that is a direct line to our fan base. Anyway, I'm sure this is all stuff that all of you already know. Just thought I'd think out loud a bit and post something while I wait for KDP support's next reply.

 

[DennisD]

Like I PMed you before, I just can't +Speed you enough. Great stuff.

I wanted to share with you a tool I've been using to get into writing productivity mode. I've been writing for Textbroker ($10/day goal to help with SaaS expenses on another venture) and I found a 'distraction free' writing tool.

It's a program Q10. It's free, and pretty powerful. It takes over your entire screen.
You can set 'goals (time limits, wordcount) and it will keep track of how many words you wrote in what amount of time. There's NO user interface (press F1 for keyboard commands). There's even a cool 'keyboard' sound when you type, which I find relaxing. I play some lyricless music and get to writing. It always puts me in the writing mood. When my girlfriend sees it open she knows I'm in the zone and to only interrupt if the house is on fire.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Thriftypreneur]

So, if I'm using keywords in a genre/category that has no sub-categories, I might as well not? That may be the thing to do, with Amazon apparently targeting my genre for elimination.

I edited the post I originally wrote to you about this question. I forgot about another thing that keywords also do...

My genre doesn't have these, so I didn't think about them. It's my understanding that matching keywords in your keyword field to these "themes" allows your book to display when someone uses those filters when browsing a category (which would make sense, but I haven't tested it). So having keywords in a listing, even when you're not using them for category placement, can be beneficial.

 

[COSenior]

Thank you for choosing KDP! I'm sorry that your issue hasn't been resolved with the last 5 emails you sent us, even though you explained your issue ad nauseum. I went over and randomly drew a piece of paper from our "solutions hat" and am in the process of applying whatever the paper said to your account. You should see the changes on the site within 48 hours.

Don't bother responding to this email, because it won't reach us. If you have further trouble, please go through the KDP dashboard so you can play customer support roulette again. Thanks for choosing KDP!

So it's 8 am and I've already had my belly laugh for the day. BTW, thanks for the rest of the post, too. I'm following your lead, buddy.

My genre doesn't have these, so I didn't think about them. It's my understanding that matching keywords in your keyword field to these "themes" allows your book to display when someone uses those filters when browsing a category (which would make sense, but I haven't tested it). So having keywords in a listing, even when you're not using them for category placement, can be beneficial.

Yeah, unfortunately neither does mine (have these). But, my next book is more on the romance side, so this is great information for the future. Thank you yet again! I'm speeding you every time the forum will let me.