Hopefully doing the giveaway will increase exposure and sales. What I've found so far: I still continue to sell books at full price. But mostly my pages with the KNEP program where I get paid approximately a half a cent a page has soared. I don't know what is normal but readers are borrowing my book through Kindle Unlimited. That usage translates into books sold, and my overall rating numbers improve.
What else do I wish I had done? Probably advertise my sale on a site where you pay a fee and they send the book to their list of people who like my genre--like BookBub--but I wanted to save $$ and see what happened with my own social media.
Also with 1800 people now having my book on their Kindle device--there is opportunity for increased reviews. And that's what all writers need for books to sell.
Because I don't want to be a nag, I have limited my subtle encouragement of posting a review on Amazon to a now-and-then gentle reminder and a little begging. I need at least 50 reviews to be considered serious. As of this writing, I sit at 28. A tough pull. Even a bad review is something but it's only been a week. I'll update you again in the future.
Next I played with my categories on Amazon--realizing The Bend is not Women's Fiction but more suspense and thriller. Changing categories to bigger categories can change your ranking but I feel it is better that future readers can find the book.
I'm enjoying my self-pub journey. I've made mistakes--and learned from them.My next book will come out stronger, with my marketing plan intact. In the meantime, I'm thankful for the reception of this book, the readers and friends who have encouraged me.
4 comments:
I appreciate your candor. Thanks for this article about your experience.
You did it! And that is the success of it all too! I did review on Amazon Canada. Unfortunately it doesn't hit .com though and cannot review there unless make a purchase through them. Excited for you with all that you have achieved with this book!
I have your book on my Kindle. Can't post a review though since I'm in the book publishing business Amazon considers me biased and won't allow me to post reviews. I really like the cover and I'm looking forward to reading it!
Sharing your experience will help so many who follow in your footsteps. It has been educational to track your progress. I hope those who enjoyed reading The Bend for free will pay you back with a short review.
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