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How to Write: Tons of Tips, Tactics and Tirades on Writing
How to Write: Tons of Tips, Tactics and Tirades on Writing
How to Write: Tons of Tips, Tactics and Tirades on Writing
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How to Write: Tons of Tips, Tactics and Tirades on Writing

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Anyone can write, and anyone can self-publish. That doesn’t mean your books will sell or anyone will care about them. How can you change that?

I’ve been self-publishing for more than 2 years and in that time I’ve put out more than 50 books and written more than 2 million words. I want to show you how you can do the same.

In this Updated for Volume you’ll get 25 new chapters for more than 110 total chapters. This covers everything from the basics of Amazon to advanced eBook marketing techniques.

I’ll tell you about eBook covers, pricing and editing.

There are several chapters on perma-free, using Goodreads and promo sites, and two whole sections on how to write fantasy.

You’ll be informed of the strategies and techniques that can get you writing 100,000 words a month with several chapters on writing faster.

To top it all off I’ll offer lots of blow-ups, speculation, controversy and conspiracy – the tirades you were promised.

That totals more than 550 pages and more than 120,000 words. It’s a lot, but if you’re looking to get started in self-publishing, it’ll be quite valuable, and save you a lot of time.

So what are you waiting for? Stop waiting for your writing dreams to come true and start making them happen. Buy this book today!

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 7, 2015
ISBN9781513082622
How to Write: Tons of Tips, Tactics and Tirades on Writing
Author

Greg Strandberg

Greg Strandberg was born and raised in Helena, Montana. He graduated from the University of Montana in 2008 with a BA in History.When the American economy began to collapse Greg quickly moved to China, where he became a slave for the English language industry. After five years of that nonsense he returned to Montana in June, 2013.When not writing his blogs, novels, or web content for others, Greg enjoys reading, hiking, biking, and spending time with his wife and young son.

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    How to Write - Greg Strandberg

    HOW TO WRITE

    Tons of Tips, Tactics and Tirades on Writing

    Greg Strandberg

    Big Sky Words, Missoula

    Copyright © 2014 by Big Sky Words

    D2D Edition, 2015

    Written in the United States of America

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

    Connect with Greg Strandberg

    www.bigskywords.com

    Fiction

    The Jongurian Mission

    Trouble in Jonguria

    The Jongurian Resolution

    The Warring States

    The State of Chu

    The State of Qin

    Tarot Card Killer

    Black Walnut

    Room 223

    The Hirelings

    Wake Up, Detroit

    Ale Quest

    Nine Amusing Tales

    G.I. JOE: The Dreadnoks

    G.I. JOE: JOE Team-13

    G.I. JOE: After Infinity

    G.I. JOE: To Its Knees

    Florida Sinkholes

    Bring Back Our Girls

    Lightning

    Fire

    Dulce Base

    Non-Fiction

    Tribes and Trappers: A History of Montana, Volume One

    Write Now! 20 Simple Strategies for Successful Writing

    English Rocks! 101 ESL Games, Activities, and Lesson Plans

    Tarot: The Mystery and the Mystique

    Write to the Top: A How To For Website Content Writing and Increasing Website Traffic

    English Last: True Accounts of Teaching in China

    Ten Minute Tarot

    Priests and Prospectors: A History of Montana, Volume Two

    Sell Your Book: 75 eBook Promotion Sites That Increase Amazon Sales

    Design Your Book: 75 eBook Cover Design Sites That Increase Amazon Sales

    Visit My Site, Bitch! Unconventional SEO Tactics for 2014

    Please Say Something! 25 Proven Ways to Get Through an Hour of ESL Teaching

    Tour Your Book: 50 eBook Promotion Sites That Increase Amazon Sales

    Teaching Abroad: Making the Move To and From ESL Teaching

    Teaching English: 25 ESL PowerPoint Ideas That Get Students Talking

    Teaching English: 10 Proven Ways to Make Shy Students Talk Now

    Bilingual Teaching: Making Your Students Ready for America Fast

    SEO & 80s Movies: An Old School Approach to SEO and Content Marketing

    Bilingual English: 25 More ESL PowerPoint Ideas That Get Students Talking

    Braves and Businessmen: A History of Montana, Volume Three

    Fun English: 10 Fast and Easy ESL Games

    From Heaven to Earth: Ancient Chinese History, 8500 – 1046 BC

    Google+ for Authors and Bloggers

    Hustlers and Homesteaders: A History of Montana, Volume Four

    Keeping Sane: English Teaching Strategies for ESL Teachers

    Stand Out: Your 2015 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook

    Table of Contents

    Introduction

    Part I – The Nuts and Bolts of Self-Publishing on Amazon

    1: Self-Publishing on Amazon 101

    2: How Do Amazon’s Ranking Algorithms Work?

    3: Amazon KDP Publishing: Choosing the Right Categories, Keywords and Price

    4: Amazon Author Rank and Tracking Your Self-Publishing Performance

    5: How Much Will I Get Paid From Amazon?

    6: Optimizing Your Amazon Author Page

    7: Amazon Sci-Fi & Thriller Categories Explained

    8: Riding the Amazon Kids and Teens Categories

    Part II – eBook Covers

    9: Should You Change Your Published Novel’s Cover?

    10: New Tarot eBook Cover

    11: Astounding, Mesmerizing and Revealing New Tarot eBook Cover

    12: My Tarot eBooks Earn a Gold Star Award

    13: Controversial New eBook Cover

    14 Black Walnut – A New Vigilante Justice Novel

    15: Kindle Worlds – Why Do Your G.I. Joe Covers Suck?

    16: The Rise of Coil G.I. Joe Kindle Worlds Series

    17: 3 Great Graphic Artists for eBook Covers That You Should Think About

    18: How are eBook Covers Designed Today?

    19: Dazzling eBook Cover Drafts from Atomic Covers

    20: Eye-Catching New Fantasy eBook Cover

    21: 10 Master Deviant Art Artists for Your eBook Covers

    Part III – eBook Editing

    22: Should You Edit Your Published Novel?

    23: Editing Your Published Novel? Make it Shine!

    24: A Tale of Two Edits

    25: Editing and Proofing Your Novel Fast

    26: Does the Look of Your Amazon Book Page Matter?

    27: What’s the Best Size for a Novel’s Paragraph?

    28: The Thing with Editing

    29: Editing Can Be a Super Pain in the Ass

    30: Fast Editing Trick for Authors

    31: Simple Editing Tips (Explained w/Dirty Words)

    Part IV – eBook Pricing

    32: Amazon KDP Select Pricing: An Experiment

    33: The Problem Discounted eBooks Pose

    34: Saying ‘To Hell’ With Your eBook Prices

    35: Once Again, I’m Selling Myself Short

    36: Your eBooks Aren’t Selling? Welcome to the Club!

    37: I’ve Sold More Than 1,000 eBooks!

    38: Are the Planets Screwing With Your Sales?

    39: Where Did My eBook Sales Go?

    40: I’ve Sold More than 3,000 Books

    41: Comparing Amazon Kindle Unlimited with Smashwords

    42: I Think I’ll Leave Smashwords This Year

    43: Analyzing Smashwords Sales for 2014

    Part V – Beginning Your eBook Marketing Journey

    44: What Do You Do After Hitting ‘Publish’ On Amazon?

    45: Six Reasons You’re Not Selling eBooks

    46: How to Promote Your eBook With No Planning Whatsoever!

    47: Tried and True Ways to Sell Your eBooks Year-Round

    48: Using MailChimp to Market Your eBooks Effectively

    49: Different Ways to Grow Your Email List

    50: To Offer Advice, You Need to Know Your Target Audience

    51: My Foray Into Amazon Box-Sets

    52: Increasing Your Exposure and eBook Sales with Blog Tours

    53: My Freebooksy Paid eBook Promotion Results (Hint: They Were Great!)

    54: My BoookBlast Paid eBook Promotion Results

    55: My Kindle Fire Department Paid eBook Promotion Results

    56: My Bargainbooksy eBook Promotion Results – Meh!

    57: Book Basset Gives Me Enough eBooks Sales to Bark About

    58: Expanding Your Authorial Reach with Goodreads

    59: Using the Goodreads Daily Email to Market Your eBooks Effectively

    60: Choosing Your Goodreads Giveaway Winners

    61: Getting 1,000 Friends on Goodreads...If That’s Your Thing

    62: Why Do Amazon Books Shoot Up the Charts?

    Part VI – Free and Perma-Free as a Marketing Strategy

    63: Small Waves Don’t Make a Splash With Amazon KDP Select

    64: Three Months of Amazon Perma-Free Results

    65: Perma-Free Marketing – Bringing the Dead Back to Life

    66: Eight Months of Amazon Perma-Free Results

    67: More than 10,000 People Have Downloaded The Jongurian Mission

    68: One Year of Amazon Perma-Free Results

    69: Lighting’s Electrifying Perma-Free Ride

    70: Does Changing Your Cover Affect Perma-Free Sales?

    Part VII – Writing Faster

    71: How Word Counts Helped Me Write 1 Million Words in Less Than a Year

    72: Word Count Meters for Your Website

    73: Use Lists to Write More and Write Faster

    74: Using Google Maps for Fiction Writing

    75: Google Maps Saves My Novel Again

    76: Are Your Novels Puzzles or Blocks

    77: Using Your eBook Writing Folders Effectively

    78: Split Infinitives, Conjunctions and other Things that May or May Not be Important

    79: Top 10 Best Writing Books on Writing for Writers to Write Right

    80: Top 10 Best Finger Foods for Fast Computer Typists

    81: Writing Your Novels Faster – Writing vs. Formatting

    82: Writing Your Novels Faster – Visual Representations of Your Novel’s World

    83: Writing Your Novels Faster – Plotting With Your Table of Contents

    84: Writing Your Novels Faster – 7 Ways to Get Over That Writing Wall

    85: 1,000,000 Words This Year...So Far

    86: NaNoWriMo Strategies for Finishing a Novel in Less Than a Month

    87: Writing and Succeeding and Not Getting Bogged Down

    Part VIII – Writing and Publishing Philosophies

    88: My Publishing Philosophy

    89: Your 2014 Self-Publishing Game Plan

    90: Dealing With a BookBub Rejection

    91: Can I Have a Review?

    92: Should You Sue Your eBook Reviewers?

    93: What Happens When You Write Something That Pisses Off

    Everyone?

    94: Aren’t You Getting Tired of Big-Name Know-It-All Authors Whining All the Time?

    95: How Can Authors Get a Thicker Skin?

    96: Would You Rather Write 100 Shitty Books or 1 Good Book?

    97: What is the Eye of the Beholder?

    98: Do Hippos Belong in Self-Publishing?

    99: Whales, Mermaids and Your Publishing Long-Tail

    100: In Defense of Arrogance

    101: Is Freedom of Speech Important Anymore?

    102: China, eBooks and the Battle for Hong Kong

    103: Did You Know There’s No Money in Self-Publishing?

    104: I Got a Check in the Mail for $1,000 Today!

    105: Is Free Fiction Worth Writing on Your Website?

    106: Why Are So Many Writers Scared?

    107: Do You Need GroupThink?

    108: Three Ideas for Sharing on Social Media...So People Don’t Think You’re a Dumbass

    109: What Drives You?

    110: Well, Shit – I Guess I Must Be a Pulp Writer!

    111: I Unpublished 12 Books Today

    112: If You’re Not Struggling, Maybe You’re Not Doing it Right

    113: Why Amazon Told My Mom to ‘Go Fuck Herself’

    Part IX – Random Thoughts

    114: What Does My Day Look Like?

    115: The Monthly Mailbox #1

    116: The Monthly Mailbox #2

    117: The Monthly Mailbox #3

    118: The Monthly Mailbox #4

    119: Mid-Month Thoughts for August

    Conclusion

    About the Author

    Preview of Sell Your Book

    Introduction

    My books don’t sell. Well, they sell, just not a whole lot. So if you’re looking for a writer that makes a lot of money and can sit back and dispense advice because of it, then you’ll probably want to find another book. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for someone with ideas on how to get started in self-publishing quickly and write a lot of books even faster, then I might be able to help.

    I began publishing with Amazon in January 2013. I started writing my first serious novel about two years before that. It’s now November 2014 and this will be my 50th self-published book on Amazon and several other eBook retailers.

    Many of these chapters you’re about to read were written on my website, and many of them are promotional in nature. I’ve changed them little if at all, and if that bothers you, I’d suggest not buying this book. But if you’re trying to build your author platform and get people interested in your work, they will give you insight, they will give you ideas.

    I made just about every mistake there was in the book during my self-publishing journey, and many of them I’ve made twice. I hope you don’t have to make them and that’s one of the reasons I put this book together.

    You’ll get more than 130 chapters here, everything from the basics of Amazon to advanced eBook marketing techniques.

    I’ll tell you about eBook covers, pricing and editing.

    There are several chapters on perma-free and two whole sections on how to write fantasy.

    I write more than 100,000 words a month and you’d probably like to as well, so there are several chapters on that.

    To top it all off I’ll offer lots of blow-ups and controversy and conspiracy...the tirades you were promised.

    That totals more than 550 pages and just over 120,000 words. It’s a lot, but if you’re looking to get started in self-publishing, it’ll be quite valuable, and save you a helluva lot of time.

    Good luck...and thanks for reading!

    Part I

    The Nuts and Bolts of Self Publishing on Amazon

    1: Self-Publishing on Amazon 101

    I spent a good two hours last night reworking my ‘Blurbs’ document which I use when self-publishing on Amazon.  This document is large, about 19 pages.  It’s so large in fact, that I put a table of contents at the top of it to make navigating through it easier.  I can’t just zoom out; I need to see the links in the document.

    It made me think of all the other problems I have due to the amount of books I have selling on Amazon and Smashwords.  Self-publishing on Amazon can often be fraught with perils, just as self-publishing on Smashwords can.

    Through self-publishing on Amazon I’ve been able to get 11 books out there, and that means I’ve got to have 2 to 3 descriptions, or blurbs, for each.  Links have to be assigned properly, and all need covers.  Each book has different formatting needs as well as certain marketing aspects.  Pricing is a factor, even for the same book in different retailers.  And let’s not forget about all the time spent not writing when I’m working on publishing.  There’s a lot that goes into self publishing on Amazon, so let’s take a look at each point in turn.

    Blurbs

    If you’re self publishing on Amazon and Smashwords, you’ll need at least 2 different blurbs, and perhaps 3.  Amazon is pretty simple: you can write whatever you want, and however much you want.  There are also some neat formatting tricks you can use to make your text stand out with bold fonts and colors.

    Smashwords, on the other hand, acts like the meat grinder they’re so fond of comparing themselves to.  You have to have one short blurb that comes in at about 400 to 500 characters.  The other is a longer blurb that can be an exact copy of the blurb you used for self publishing on Amazon, its length being up to you.

    Links

    I’ve got lots of links that I need to update each time I put out a new eBook.  First, there’s the new link, or two in my case since I’m using both Amazon and Smashwords.  When my new book goes live, I’ll get the link.  I make the link as small as I can, meaning I only have the site name and the book code, whether it’s an ASIN or ISBN.

    Now I’ve got to put those into my blurbs document.  I have two sections in the document, one for my About the Author page for self publishing on Amazon, the other for Smashwords.  The reason I have two is because I put these links on there, and both retailers get angry if they see those links.  This can cause your book to be delayed in the publishing process, and you might have to republish it.

    I have very short blurbs on my About the Author page for each of my 11 books.  A new blurb, of about 50 words, has to be added for the new book.  I always include the title in there, and that’s where the link is anchored.  Now I’ve got to go and paste that new About the Author page into each of my books, which is really 22 different books since I need 2 files for each, one for self publishing on Amazon and one for Smashwords.  And then I’ve got to publish them all again.

    Is this worth it?  I think so.  Who knows which buyers will scroll all the way down to that page and check out your other books?  That one extra blurb could be a new reader, and perhaps not just for that book, but for your others as well.

    Covers

    Every time you’re self publishing on Amazon your book will need a cover.  That means I’ve got to find and pay someone to make it for me.  I nearly always do this on Freelancer.com, often with varying results. 

    When I finish a new book, I make up a ‘mock’ cover myself of the direction I’d like to go in.  These always look bad.  You can tell with a quick glance that they’re not really professional, and I still have 3 of these DIY covers out there.

    An important consideration that I’ve only begun to look seriously at lately is the thumbnail size of your cover.  If people can’t see what your title is or make out your picture at 250x250 or less, then you’re probably going to have some problems.  This is always an ongoing struggle when it comes to self publishing on Amazon, and sometimes you might have to sacrifice aesthetic elements for the sake of sales.

    Formatting

    Formatting is a pain, especially if you’re using html, which I’m just starting in on.  I often feel like pulling my hair out when I’m going through each line of my books one-by-one, but perhaps it needs to be done.  You can do a lot more with html than you can without, like make the first letter of a new chapter stand out and give the chapter titles some color.

    I can usually get away these days with formatting my book easily enough for both Amazon and Smashwords, at least the non-fiction books.  I always write those in such a way that I’m formatting as I go, which makes the end formatting so much easier.  One of the main problems is with fiction, however.  I’m always having problems with tabs, line spacing, and other mundane issues that compromise my perfectionist tendencies.  These things are often easy enough to resolve, and when you are self publishing on Amazon often enough you get better at it.

    Pricing

    How do you price a new book?  When do you make that decision?  Usually when I’m writing I’ll get a good idea of the value I think the book imparts, as well as what I can ask for it.  I’ve got books on Amazon and Smashwords right now ranging in price from $0.99 to $9.99 and I’ve even had some of them listed as free form time-to-time.

    One of my latest books, the Tarot book, is listed for $0.99 on Amazon, but $2.99 on Smashwords.  I’ve gotten sales on Smashwords before when the same title isn’t selling well on Amazon.  I’m trying this tactic out, and I’m curious as to how it will go.

    Marketing

    I hate marketing my books; I’d much rather be writing another.  But marketing is often a necessary good, or evil, when you’re self publishing on Amazon.  There are many ways you can market your books, and chances are you already have the tools at your fingertips. 

    Nearly everyone has social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter, so send the word out.  If you’ve got email you’ve probably got contacts.  Send your closest the links to your book.  If you don’t have a website, now would be a great time to start one.  Blogs and forums are out there in plenty regardless of your niche, and establishing a presence that doesn’t badger or blather could help out your long-term sales. 

    Advertising is always an option, and there are many avenues to go down, including BookBub advertisements, Facebook ads, and a whole lot more.  Don’t neglect print advertising or newspapers if you think your book is something special.  Press releases to the right people could pay off, even if it’s just 1 out of 100. 

    Consider giving several copies of your book away to people who will review it for free.  Several months could roll by before you see anything, but it’s just another weapon in your marketing arsenal when you embark on the quest of self publishing on Amazon.

    Writing

    It seems with each book that I put out I’ve got less time to write a new one.  Obviously that doesn’t last too long, or stop me, however.  Still, I’ve just finished 2 more books and now have nothing substantial in the pipeline.  A feeling of emptiness is welling up inside.

    The best thing to do when that happens is to write something.  I’ve got a few novel ideas, and there’s always another non-fiction idea out there that people could be better informed about.  The key is finding a balance between your dual role as a publisher and as a writer when you embark on the often perilous and painstaking path of self publishing on Amazon.

    2: How Do Amazon’s Ranking Algorithms Work?

    Amazon just isn’t the same.  Anyone buying books regularly on Amazon has surely seen the way that books are shown has fundamentally changed.  Instead of getting lots of books with reviews listed you’ll instead see 60 different book covers.  Those covers will be displayed quite prominently, meaning covers will sell your books or cause them to languish in obscurity.

    How you get onto that first page of 60 results really depends on how many reviews you’ve managed to rack up.  Your customers won’t see those reviews at first, but Amazon will be using them to determine where your book belongs in the rankings.

    And don’t forget that there are still Top 100 lists for both paid and free books.  These lists will often behave completely differently than the other search list results will.  So let’s get ready to see exactly what Amazon is like these days, and how it can affect your sales.

    A Generic Fantasy Search

    This is the screen you’ll get when you begin searching for Kindle books.  Simply choose the Shop by Department option, select Books, and then Kindle Books.  After that you’ll want to type in your search word.  For this example I’ll type in Fantasy and this is what comes up:

    You can see that 60 books pop up, showing their cover, title, and price.  The main thing is that you’re really seeing lots and lots of covers, from free books to books that are more expensive; from books with hundreds of reviews to books with just a few dozen reviews.

    The important thing to remember is that reviews and/or purchases are putting these 60 books on this first page.  Now, let’s take a look at the reviews first.

    Reviews & Prices

    – Reviews:  There are 60 books listed.  The book with the lowest amount of reviews only has 7 reviews while the book with the highest number of reviews has 5,713.  The average number of reviews for these 60 books is 356.

    – Prices: Again looking at the 60 books listed we can see that the lowest price is $0.00, which occurs on a whopping 47 of the books listed.  That means that just 13 books require readers to pay, or just 21.6% of the books on that first page.  Of those paid books, the lowest price is $0.99 and the highest is $7.59, for an average price of $0.76 with all the free books thrown in.

    So What Does This Mean?

    Now, that first page lists 60 books.  There are 400 pages just like this for a total of 111,910 books.  And it’s not until you get to page 7, or through 360 books, that you get to any books that don’t have a single review.  So you can take away a few things from this:

    Unless you have reviews you’re not going to be coming up on the first 6 pages;

    Most people looking for fantasy books will probably only look through the first 2 to 3 pages;

    Your cover is now the first thing customers see and the only thing that’ll get them interested.

    Categories

    Now, those are the results you get when you simply type in Fantasy and do a search under Kindle Books.  If you click on one of the categories, or departments, listed on the sidebar you’ll get different results.  Some of the books are different and some books that show up in the Fantasy category don’t show up in the Epic Fantasy category and vice versa.

    Another thing to consider is that these results are listed based on ‘Relevance.’  You can choose another search option, such as Avg. Customer Review or Price: Low to High and get completely different results.  The Relevance search is what Amazon will automatically do, however.

    Many of the books that are doing well in the categories won’t be doing that well in the general genre search, which in this case is Fantasy,  Also, some books that are performing worse in the categories will be doing better in the general search.

    Why is this?  I’m not sure.  It doesn’t seem to be the reviews that are doing it, so it could be the downloads or sales.  Still, you’d think that would cause that book to come up higher on the general search results.  That’s not the case, so who knows what’s going on exactly?

    Top Fantasy Books on Amazon

    Let’s take a look at the top book showing up when we do a search for Fantasy in the Kindle Books department. 

    The first book that comes up is called Knights: The Eye of Divinity.  This is Book 1 of the Knights Series and has 76 customer reviews: 33 are 5-star, 25 are 4-star, 10 are 3-star, 7 are 2-star, and 1 review is 1-star.  The book therefore has an average of 4.1 stars out of 5.

    But how is it doing in its categories?  You’d think that if this book is coming up as the top search result for Fantasy it’d be leading in one of its categories as well.  This just isn’t the case, however.

    Knights: The Eye of Divinity is coming up in the following three categories of Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy:

    Fairy Tales – #30

    Sword & Sorcery – #30

    Epic – #34

    So this book isn’t even cracking the top 20 in any of its particular categories.  But it is still coming up as the first result when you search the much broader category of Fantasy.

    The second book listed when you do a Fantasy search is The Book of Deacon, which is actually performing better in the categories than the first book, Knight: The Eye of Divinity. 

    The Book of Deacon comes up as:

    Sword & Sorcery – #10

    Epic – #11

    So why is another book that has lower category rankings coming up before a book with higher category rankings? 

    Deacon has 637 reviews compared to Knight’s 76.  The average review is also higher for Deacon than it is for Knight, coming in at 4.3 vs. 4.1.  Both books are free so we can’t compare them there, although Knight was published more than a year later than Deacon, which doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the ranking. 

    I think it’s therefore safe to assume that Knights is simply getting downloaded more often than Deacon, even though Deacon is beating it out in 2 categories.  Interesting, and not very helpful!

    Top 100 Fantasy Books on Amazon

    Now, perhaps you thought that was about all there was to it.  Well, think again!  Those were the books that come up when you simply do a generic search of Fantasy books in the Kindle department.  What happens if you start looking at the Top 100 lists?

    There are 2 main Top 100 lists: Paid and Free.  Let’s take a look at each of those:

    – Top 100 Paid:  When you do a search of a category such as Fantasy and look at the Top 100 books you won’t see any that showed up in our first search.  Well, that’s not quite true: the 9th book in our first search is now the 2nd book in the Top 100 Paid Search.  The 1st book in the Top 100 doesn’t even show up at all in our original search results.  Of the Top 5 the highest price is $14.99 and the lowest is $0.99.  The highest number of reviews is 4,017 and the lowest is 78.

    – Top 100 Free:  Once again, none of the books we saw in our original search are showing up in the Top 100 Free, not a single one.  The highest number of reviews here are 214 in the top 5 and the lowest is 32, which just happens to be the number the 1st book has. 

    Top 100 Paid

    Top 100 Free

    ––––––––

    Take Away

    There are a lot of contradictory results here!  Some books are showing up where you wouldn’t expect them and others aren’t showing up where you would.

    There are a few things you can take away from the way that Amazon now lists their books.  Some of them may make it easier for you to sell your own books, and some might make it difficult.

    – Cover:  Your cover is now more critically important than ever.  When a customer does an initial search they’ll be presented with 3 things: your cover, your title, and your price.  If they’re interested in one of those they’ll hover their mouse over the cover image, which will show them the number of reviews you get.  Of all the things that you can do to sell your book, I think the cover is now the most important based on how the search results are now shown.

    – Reviews for You:  Reviews aren’t as important from a reader perspective, at first.  You see, customers won’t see those reviews unless they hover over your book.  If they do that they’ll see, but the cover will be the only thing to make them do that.  Well, your title could pull them in too, but I don’t think it happens as often.

    – Reviews for Amazon:  Reviews are critically important as far as Amazon is concerned.  If you don’t have any reviews, an average of at least 356 according to our analysis, you won’t even be showing up on that first page of 60 books.  If you have no reviews you’ll be pushed back to page 7 at the least, and probably much further back than that.

    – Price:  Your price is important, although not that critical.  The book with the highest number of reviews in our Fantasy search also had the highest price.  Books priced at $0.00 were getting onto that first page of 60 results more than books that you paid for were.  In fact, nearly 80% of those first 60 books were free!

    – Title:  Your title is important, as it’s one of the first 3 things that readers will see besides your cover and price.  It’s probably most important for how it looks on your book’s cover, however.

    Hopefully this analysis gives people a little bit to think about when it comes to choosing a cover, price, and title.  There are many ways to sell books on Amazon, but if you study how the top books are selling, and why they’re coming up first in the search results, you’ll be in a much better position to sell your own books.

    3: Amazon KDP Publishing: Choosing the Right Keywords, Categories and Price

    I’m happy to announce that I have a new eBook out today called Tarot Card Killer. This is my 18th book selling on Amazon and my 7th novel. This book is also the book that I wrote for NaNoWriMo. Overall I’m quite proud of it.

    So what is Tarot Card Killer?

    Well, if you’ve visited this site at all in the past month I’m sure you’ve heard about the book. I wrote about the Tarot book cover, gave an excerpt of the book, and now here I am pushing it again.

    Let me tell you right now, this will be the last time I do a post on this book all year!

    Amazon Blurb

    Writing a blurb for Amazon isn’t the easiest thing. I usually don’t get around to it until I’m on the publishing screen. Then I hastily hobble something together and slap it on there. This is what I came up with this time:

    Jim Sharpe is sick of life, sick of being a cop, and most of all, sick of Hong Kong. He’s one of the few not taking bribes, yet he’s the one being charged with corruption. By the end of the week he’ll be kicked off the force – no matter what.

    All that changes when a dead body’s found next to Victoria Harbour, a bloody Tarot card in its hand. Jim’s called onto the case, and what he discovers promises not just to upend his world, but the whole city as well.

    With harrowing shootouts on the streets of Hong Kong Island, action-packed car chases down The Peak, and plenty of Tarot card mumbo-jumbo, you know this hard-boiled and international detective novel will take you to the edge of your seat.

    Experience what readers everywhere will soon be talking about – Tarot Card Killer! So what are you waiting for? Draw your first card today!

    ––––––––

    Alright, that’s actually a touched-up version that I fixed just now and plan to copy/past over my older, not-as-good blurb.

    So is that it? I mean, many users come to this site to read about publishing and some Amazon secrets. They don’t read my books and don’t really give a damn about them, honestly.

    Well, here are the tips and tricks I employed while on the Amazon publishing screen.

    Amazon Categories

    This was a tough book to figure out. When you publish a book on Amazon you get 2 categories. These are what people will see you in if your book gets into a ‘Top 100’ list. For Tarot Card Killer I chose Mystery, Thriller and Suspense – Hard-Boiled. I figure this book is a lot like some of those older ‘50s detective novels so it seemed a good fit.

    My next pick was a non-fiction category, Mind, Body & Spirit – Divination – Tarot. Yeah, well, I figure a lot of people looking in the Tarot category would be interested in this book.

    Also, if I sell just a few copies I’m almost guaranteed to get a spot on that ‘Top 100’ list, increasing my visibility. After all, when I’ve been #1 in Tarot before I had a rank of about #15,000 or so. That’s just a few sales a day.

    I’ll leave it there for a month or so and then see how it does with another Mystery category.

    Amazon Keywords

    The thing you have to remember about categories is that you shouldn’t be too disappointed if you can’t get all the ones you want. I would have loved to choose about 5 more categories, like Police Procedurals and International Detectives, but I only had those 2.

    Thing is, Amazon gives you

    Enjoying the preview?
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