Guys: Kindle is the Ticket!

[turbopugsleylx]

Good information dude...just curious how many of these books have you written so far...and how many sales a day do you typically get on each of them?

 

[astronaut23]

OP do you still use ghostwriters? Do you make them sign some sort of contract? How is that handled?

 

[bkshock]

Well, through trial and error, I've found a system that works for me. If you enroll in KDP Select, you can list your book for free for up to 5 days in every 90 day cycle (I believe). So what I do, is when the book is first launched, I make it free for 5 days in a row, right away. Then, there are a number of websites that will post Free Kindle books, so I submit my free book to those sites, for some extra juice.

Usually this results in a lot of free downloads. These, in turn, make your book jump to the top of the chart for its genre. You'll also get a couple of reviews, if the book merits it. Then, after the 5 days of free, you have a book sitting at the top of the charts, with a couple good reviews, and people are MUCH more inclined to buy a book at the top of the charts with good reviews!

Thanks for the share. About how many free downloads do the books get during this 5 day period? I know you said Kindle is not good for blackhatting, but it seems to me that a little cautious automation during the free download phase could be beneficial in this method.

 

[GobBluthJD]

I followed Gob's advice and not only do I have one book that has made me around $100 I have another recently published and one that is being released next week. (I started this about 3 weeks ago)

Guys, put in some hard work, and this is a method that will actually pay off..

Well done! Sounds like you're getting it figured and taking action. That's what it's all about!

 

[GobBluthJD]

Good information dude...just curious how many of these books have you written so far...and how many sales a day do you typically get on each of them?

I have just north of 50 titles, spread out over 6 or so pen names.

Sales vary widely - some get dozens per day, some get 1 per day. They're all earning with no work from me after the initial upload though. That's the beauty.

 

[GobBluthJD]

OP do you still use ghostwriters? Do you make them sign some sort of contract? How is that handled?

I use ghostwriters for different parts of the process, depending on the genre I'm writing in. I make them sign a contract that states they understand this is work for hire, they transfer all rights to me, in every format, they cannot use the work in their portfolio, NDA, etc etc. It's pretty comprehensive.

 

[Salexes]

I use ghostwriters for different parts of the process, depending on the genre I'm writing in. I make them sign a contract that states they understand this is work for hire, they transfer all rights to me, in every format, they cannot use the work in their portfolio, NDA, etc etc. It's pretty comprehensive.

I want to use ghostwriters too. Do you write the contract by yourself or do you use a sample contract which you've found in the internet?

 

[Natka]

reviews are key in kindle, is there a review exchange on here?

 

[astronaut23]

I want to use ghostwriters too. Do you write the contract by yourself or do you use a sample contract which you've found in the internet?

I'd like to know this too. Are there some templates that we could use or something. We don't actually have to hire a lawyer for this, do we?

 

[blackfatcat]

OP, I would like to ask a little more about the criteria you use in deciding what type of books to publish. So far I have published 4 books - 3 fiction and 1 non-fiction (in the health category, which got a great 4-star review). The problem, however, is that so far not one single sale! (I did the KDP Select promotion for 5 days on each title). So it seems that it's not just a matter of write it, publish it, and it will automatically sell.

It's not the quality of the work that's the problem - I've been a professional writer for over 30 years - so the problem must be the subject matter and/or further promotion outside of Amazon. What I'd like to know is this: how do you decide what kind of books to publish, do you use Google keywords tool the same as you do when deciding on a specific niche?

Thanks for all your great advice so far.

 

[GobBluthJD]

I want to use ghostwriters too. Do you write the contract by yourself or do you use a sample contract which you've found in the internet?

I'm a lawyer, so I actually wrote the contract myself

 

[Salexes]

Hehe. That's cool :biggthump

Could you maybe send me a copy of a contract like this? I would even pay for it
Because I don't know if you can find good ghostwriting/NDA contracts in the world wide web.


By the way:

I have a story for a great fiction story in my mind. Should I write one long book 100k words or should I publish it "chapter" by "chapter" with 10k works each?

What would you suggest and do you have any other tips for us/me ?

 

[ortogonk]

You could do a season like what these guys are dong:
http://www.amazon.com/Yesterdays-Go..._B004UOL2CW_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1367778169&sr=1-7
http://www.amazon.com/WhiteSpace-Se...004UOL2CW_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1367778169&sr=1-11
http://www.amazon.com/ForNevermore-...W_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367778183&sr=1-14

 

[infested27]

I have read most of the post here and i was about to start thinking to start this venture with a twist untill i did some research on the amazon FAQ for kindle publishers...and i found that:

We must withhold U.S. taxes on your royalty payments at the rate of 30% unless you are a resident in a country with which the U.S. has an existing income tax treaty and you provide us with a valid IRS Form W8-BEN

This means that if you live in Europe you are screwed they will withhold 30% of your income (if you sell at 2.99$) plus another gross 30% of that 70% royalties for USA tax...before any expenses like dollar to euro conversion with is usually another 5-10%...also my country will withhold even more taxes from me since i will have an income as a publisher...

So from the 2.99$ sale Amazon will take 30% (1$)
USA tax will take 30% of that 70% royalties or 21% (0.6$)
My country will take another 25-50% depending on my income from the rest of the sales so about (0.35-0.7$)
The dollar to Euro conversion will take another 5-10% (0.10-0.20$)

My earnings will be less than a dollar for each book sold
Also the Tax work that needs to be done for Non-US Publishers found here sounds like a real nightmare.

I don't want to sound negative but i will have to sell 25.000+ (less than a 1$ profit from each sale) ebooks per year (EVERY YEAR) to make the income that a guy flipping burgers in a first world country makes...

Do you think this is viable (selling 70 books per day)? Is there any other way to avoid all those taxes and other expenses? Starting a legal business in my country for the double-tax avoidance treaty is ridiculously expensive (costs of 1000$ per month ) so creating a company is not an option.

 

[blackfatcat]

I'm in the same boat. I would say just hike up your price by$1 to make up for the 30% tax problem. I certainly don't think it's fair. Why should we, as non-US citizens pay taxes to the US government?

 

[ortogonk]

1. Obtain a U.S. Tax Identification Number (TIN)

In order to be valid (thus allowing for a potential reduced treaty rate of withholding on royalty payments), non-U.S. members must obtain a U.S. tax identification number (TIN) and provide this TIN on their IRS Forms W8-BEN or equivalent documentation. A foreign (non-U.S.) TIN will not be sufficient for this purpose.

Information on how to apply for a TIN with the IRS is available at the IRS website. For non-US persons, a TIN may be an EIN (for individuals and businesses) or an ITIN (for individuals only). An EIN may be obtained by filing IRS Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. The application may be completed over the telephone in one session by calling (267) 941-1099. The application may also be completed by fax in approximately 4 business days and by mail in approximately 4 weeks. More information about Form SS-4 is available on the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97860,00.html.

 

[infested27]

1. Obtain a U.S. Tax Identification Number (TIN)

In order to be valid (thus allowing for a potential reduced treaty rate of withholding on royalty payments), non-U.S. members must obtain a U.S. tax identification number (TIN) and provide this TIN on their IRS Forms W8-BEN or equivalent documentation. A foreign (non-U.S.) TIN will not be sufficient for this purpose.

Information on how to apply for a TIN with the IRS is available at the IRS website. For non-US persons, a TIN may be an EIN (for individuals and businesses) or an ITIN (for individuals only). An EIN may be obtained by filing IRS Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. The application may be completed over the telephone in one session by calling (267) 941-1099. The application may also be completed by fax in approximately 4 business days and by mail in approximately 4 weeks. More information about Form SS-4 is available on the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97860,00.html.

As i said this means you need to have a legal business running (1000$ per month cost) and i will still be taxed in my country....this is not a solution.

 

[GobBluthJD]

As i said this means you need to have a legal business running (1000$ per month cost) and i will still be taxed in my country....this is not a solution.

Where do you get the $1000 per month cost just to have a TIN or EIN #? I have many small business clients who have TIN or EIN #'s for their businesses - there's not a $1000/month cost associated with that.

 

[infested27]

Where do you get the $1000 per month cost just to have a TIN or EIN #? I have many small business clients who have TIN or EIN #'s for their businesses - there's not a $1000/month cost associated with that.

This is the cost of running a business in my country (Greece) and it pretty much kills any attempt of a low capital start-up. Off course in most other business-friendly countries this doesn't apply. Still even if i create an offshore corporation the Taxation is super high for non-USA residents.

 

[Metheadus]

Whoa, great post! I just realized I have a ton of useless knowledge on stuff that I could turn into a book haha. Do they let you put external links in the eBooks? I'm thinking that you could post Amazon Affiliate links to things and that would allow you to lower your prices or even create free books (similar to a Consumer Reports style of book).