{"id":1485,"date":"2010-09-28T11:15:23","date_gmt":"2010-09-28T17:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=1485"},"modified":"2013-12-22T22:39:20","modified_gmt":"2013-12-23T06:39:20","slug":"self-published-authors-find-success-on-the-kindle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/28\/self-published-authors-find-success-on-the-kindle\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Published Authors Find Success on the Kindle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kindle<\/a>More and more romance authors are independently publishing on the Kindle. I sat down with two women from the San Francisco Romance Writers of America chapter to uncover more about this phenomenon and discover their promotional secrets\u00a0and how they found success on the Kindle.<\/p>\n

Many authors think they need a traditional publisher to succeed as an author, but actually all you need is drive, vision and a hungry audience. Then you can started now on your career as a successful published author.<\/p>\n

Discover four tips on what it takes to succeed on the Kindle and in the digital publishing market from two authors who\u2019ve done it, one at the start of her career and another in the middle of it.<\/p>\n

Tip #1: The Cover is Everything<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI was thoroughly ignored by agents and editors alike, while my critique partners and beta readers kept telling me my writing was ready to be published,\u201d says Tina Folsom, www.tinawritesromance.com<\/a>, bestselling author of paranormal and erotic romance (Amaury’s Hellion<\/em>, 2010). \u201cSo, when Amazon.com started their self-publishing platform and I got a Kindle for myself, I figured I had nothing to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

She published her first books in Spring 2009. But they had \u201cboring\u201d covers, she said, and she only sold a few copies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still had an old copy of Adobe Photoshop on my computer and taught myself how to use it so I could design decent covers. And boy, did that pay off! As soon as I changed my book covers for the older novels I had out there, plus designed really sexy covers for the two new books (Scanguards Vampires), my sales took off,\u201d says Folsom.<\/p>\n

Folsom designs her own covers and only paid a few dollars to purchase the photos from www.bigstockphoto.com<\/a>. Folsom highly recommends spending your time and effort on your book cover. \u201cPeople will click on the book if the cover looks enticing,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\"Love<\/a>Bestselling, multi-published author, Bella Andre, www.bellaandre.com<\/a>, chose to publish a sequel with the Kindle while she was between book contracts with no contract clauses to worry about. She had kept getting requests for a follow up to Take Me<\/em>, published by Pocket Books in 2005, and decided to “get the book to the readers who wanted it.” In July 2010, Andre published Love Me<\/em> via the Kindle and SmashWords.com. Andre said she was picky about the cover and took care to brand her Kindle books to express \u201cthe more erotic side of Bella Andre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andre was also inspired to publish directly to the Kindle due to J.A. Konrath\u2019s reports of his self-publishing success with the Kindle. (http:\/\/jakonrath.blogspot.com\/<\/a>) Inspired by his reported good sales results, Andre thought she\u2019d \u201cprobably sell\u201d if she put up her sequel. Andre hasn\u2019t released her sales results yet, but has reported that they are \u201cvery good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tip #2: Know Your Reader Expectations<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Amaury's<\/a>Bella Andre knows that digitally publishing your own novels isn\u2019t for everyone. Since she\u2019s written over ten books and has been in the traditionally published marketplace for over five years, she knows what she\u2019s doing and what readers want. And what they want are well-written sexy stories. She admits that she\u2019s in that sweet spot: She knew that erotic romance readers tend to be early adopters of the e-book medium, and she has readers looking for her.<\/p>\n

Readers want more than a sexy cover, though. They also want a good story. Tina Folsom made sure her blurb had a great hook. After the cover, \u201cthat\u2019s definitely the next thing people look at,\u201d says Folsom.<\/p>\n

Next comes the excerpt. Folsom adds, \u201cIt goes without saying that your first few chapters have to pull the reader in, particularly since Kindle allows a free sample of about 10% of your book. So you\u2019ve got to hook the reader right then if you want to make a sale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then comes price and accessibility. Readers want to be able to read books in the way they<\/em> want. Andre wants to make her books accessible for her readers, so she prices them to sell, offering her books for $9.99 for the print version, and $4.99 on the Kindle. \u201cIt\u2019s not so much about price point, but about convenience,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Price played a factor for Folsom, too. When Folsom released her second book, Amaury\u2019s Hellion<\/em> in July 2010, she offered the book for $0.99 for the first month, and noted in the blurb that this was an introductory price (and the full price would be $5.99 after that.) That month she sold over 400 copies of her new release, and at the same time, her sales for her first book in the series, Samson\u2019s Lovely Mortal<\/em>, and all her other backlist titles increased in sales as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe introductory low price of $0.99 definitely worked. It got people\u2019s attention and brought me up in the sales rankings, improving my visibility. With Amaury\u2019s Hellion<\/em>, I got as high at #628 in the Kindle Store, and for a short time was even on #1 and #2 in Gothic Romances,\u201d Folsom reports.<\/p>\n

Both authors offer print and digital versions of their digitally published books, including distribution via the Kindle, and via Smashwords.com which allows for digital distribution to the iPad, Sony Reader, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble online.<\/p>\n

Tip #3: Market to Your Specific Niche<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Both Andre and Folsom have done specific targeted marketing, using Facebook, Twitter, their blogs, and by requesting reviews.<\/p>\n

When Andre\u2019s book was first released, she spent a few weeks using Facebook Ads and sent out reviewer requests and the PDF of her books to romance reviewers, even if they said they don\u2019t review self-published books. \u201cThe world is changing. [Reviewers] have to start reviewing ebooks,\u201d Andre says.<\/p>\n

All told, Andre said she probably spent $50 on the Facebook ads. In contrast, when Take Me<\/em> came out five years ago, she spent $10,000 on marketing and advertising. \u201cNever again\u201d she says will she spend that kind of money to market a book, and takes a level-headed approach to an individual book\u2019s success. \u201cIt\u2019s going to do how it does,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

For Folsom, in the beginning, the only thing she did was solicit reviews. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to get a few good reviews posted on Amazon.\u201d She adds. Folsom asked fellow RWA members for reviews, and then contacted dozens of blogs. Since her two books are vampire romances, she contacted all kinds of vampire blogs who did book reviews. Folsom adds, \u201cThe reviews helped.\u201d Not only did they make her books look more desirable on Amazon.com, she also got some exposure on different blogs, and her sales increased.<\/p>\n

What I found interesting about their promotions is that neither author did any pre-publication marketing.<\/p>\n

Tip #4: The More Things Change The More They Stay the Same<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I asked both Andre and Folsom for advice to authors considering whether or not to independently publish their fiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorry about the words,\u201d Andre says. \u201cGet [your book] copy edited and proof read. Pay attention to that part. A cover is important but just get it up there; you can always change it later.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to good editing, Folsom adds:<\/p>\n