Amazon recently added a new tool they call “Amazon Giveaways” to our marketing toolbox. Using Amazon Giveaways, the book publisher can purchase an arbitrary number of copies of their book and have Amazon distribute them “free” to people who participate in the giveaway. I’m not going to spend much time on “how to” in this article. There are a lot of resources out there that will get you started with Amazon Giveaways (including the wonderful resource written by my friend and fellow author Nicholas Rossis: How To Set Up An Amazon Giveaway). Instead, I’d like to talk about my experience and lessons learned after running two separate Amazon giveaways of the same title, Necromancer Awakening.
3 Myths About Social Media Marketing for Authors | Tim Grahl
I stumbled on this article today and knew immediately I needed to share it with you. Many of you who frequent this community come here for the articles on how to leverage social media as a writer. Social media (specifically for writers) has become a side passion of mine since about 2012. I can tell you that everything Tim writes in this article rings true to me. In many cases, it actually mirrors my own experience with social media marketing. In short, it’s well worth a read. Click the “Source” link below for the original article. The truths and myths about how social media helps authors build their platform, connect with readers and market their books. Source: 3 Myths About Social Media Marketing for Authors | …
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Smashwords: 2015 Smashwords Survey Reveals Insights to Help Authors Reach More Readers
Edit: Oops! Got a little trigger-happy with the “publish” button. I intended to add some comments first. I’ll keep it short. A friend on Twitter shared this article with me this morning, and I had to pass it along to all of you. Mark Coker released some statistics that may greatly impact the way you choose to market your stories. I strongly urge you to read this article.
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Holiday Book Marketing: a Holiday Cheat Sheet
Once again, I find myself sharing a post from my friend Nicholas Rossis, award winning author of the epic fantasy Pearseus series. It’s a wonderful article that includes a handful of recommendations and painfully easy things you can do to increase your marketing presence this holiday season. Taylor of the Written Word Media has written an excellent post titled, Holiday Book Marketing: An Author’s Guide to Black Friday and Beyond that lists all the remaining holidays of 2015. Why is tha… Source: Holiday Book Marketing: a Holiday Cheat Sheet
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Kindle Unlimited Scores a Knockout – The Wayfinder – Hugh C. Howey
After 40 days in the Kindle Unlimited program, and after going through my first royalty statement that includes KU pagereads, I have a few observations. First, a little background for the uninitiated: Over a year ago, Amazon launched an ebook subscription service known as Kindle Unlimited. For $9.95 a month, readers could enjoy unlimited access to over a… Source: Kindle Unlimited Scores a Knockout – The Wayfinder – Hugh C. Howey
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Are You Using Pinned Tweets?
Twitter recently rolled out a new feature for profile pages that allows you to keep your vital content visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This feature is known as Pinned Tweets, and it’s an important part of your content delivery strategy. And you’re not using it. You read that correctly. It’s one of the single greatest content delivery features Twitter has graced us with, and you’re completely ignoring it! How do I know? Allow me to explain (in an admittedly roundabout way).
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Whiskey, Wine, & Writing (& Me!)
Hello friends and readers! I had the great privilege of being interviewed by the beautiful people at Whiskey, Wine, & Writing last night on Google Hangouts. We covered everything from Self-Publishing to…MORE SELF-PUBLISHING! [What else did you think I’d be talking about? 🙂 ] If you get the chance, head on over to the link above and give it a watch. And since they took the time to make this awesome graphic (below), I’m going to share it even though the event is in the past. Cheers! Nat
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Link Globalization
[UPDATED – 7/22/2015] Did you know there is more than one Amazon.com store? Don’t worry. If you didn’t know there is an amazon.co.uk, or an amazon.de, or even an amazon.co.jp, you’re not alone. In fact, many are unaware there are at least 13 international Amazon storefronts. But until you’re aware of this (and do something about it) you may be sending potential customers to the wrong store, losing untold sales in the process! Link globalization is something you need to be aware of if you’re attempting to direct people to an Amazon storefront. If you give an Amazon.com link to someone in the UK or Australia, for example, that person will not be able to purchase the product you’ve linked without going through a lot …
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Lessons Learned from 1000 Books
**Updated February 5, 2020** [Apologies for any poor formatting you come across. I imported this from another platform and I’m still sorting through WordPress idiosyncracies.] Having sold more than 1000 copies of Necromancer Awakening (my bestselling dark fantasy novel, now available on Amazon), I’d like to share some of my lessons learned about independent publishing. Some of them will delight you. Others will disturb you. I believe many will surprise you. Beware…many an exclamation mark lurks ahead. [Update – January 10, 2015: This article was posted less than a month after Necromancer Awakening was published. In the interests of transparency, nine months after publication, that sales number is somewhere around 20k and climbing (not including 2.5k I gave away for free).]
