Guys: Kindle is the Ticket!

Pinger030

awesome post man.

would you mind telling me if your writers are natives or foreigners? I find the foreigners are willing to work closer to your rate (10$/1000 words) but most Americans won't.

Also, what's your favorite site for getting freelancers?

I love your advice, I'm totally wired in the same way. that's why I'm so intrigued by this system. Best of luck and continued success friend.

@cyrax

I've found my writers on odesk and they are native speakers. The reason why I can pay them so low is because I give them as much work as they want and pay them fast. So I provide them a guaranteed income every month. They don't have to look for other job offers. They can write 2, 5 or maybe 10 stories per month and can be sure that I'll pay them. So I provide them a little bit more freedom and safety than eg. you could provide them and so they accept the lower payment.

Let me run this by you, great writer can deliver great material, or at least above average, includes images and a cover page...450 for 50 page eBooks each. (300-350 words per page)

2 questions

could I be profitable at 450 per eBook?

also, would you try him for 25 page eBooks w/ images and covers for 225 each?

Reason being, it makes everything go faster initially if I use this writer to get the ball rolling and his work is comprehensive, I just write the check and publish to kindle and try to promote. I kind of want to see what you think before I make my next move.

Thanks for your time

I wouldn't rely on on out outsourcers to do the cover images and everything. Remember, if someone is going to write for you quality books for the cheap then they are clueless of what their value is, and probably have no idea what a good cover is going to look like.

50% of your sales are going to be based on your title and cover. The other 50% is going to be based on the content which will be directly translated into reviews.

I have found a few guys willing to write for me at the same price as Pinger. Most are not native and have produce low/mid level quality work which I can simply edit and freshen up to make publishable. The other two are English native. I found one gem who is giving me amazing quality that rivals some of the best ebooks on Kindle now. I'm actually a little bit worried that he's getting the content from somewhere because it's that good, but I can't find it and he's been more than happy to sign rights transfers/copyright agreements. I assume he is a high school/college student.

It took me literally about 2 weeks to find 3 guys that I am happy with who I am having produce for me 3 books per week. I'm actually having them produce non-fiction for me because I loathe the idea of writing non-fiction books. On the side I am writing fiction myself, and plan on putting out 1 10,000-15,000 fiction ebook per written 100% by me every 3 days or so, and if I catch fire on a niche I will write a feature length novel over the course of about a month.

This is very, very tolling because I'm also working my day job as well. So I work full time, then write about the same amount as a full time writer, and then edit, format, Photoshop, and managed my outsourced content. I haven't found a way to really fit in the marketing side of things, but I don't think I'll worry about that until I have something that's getting a lot of attention.

I wish I had gotten in when the OP had posted this originally as there are thousands of ebooks going up on Kindle every day and the competition is very very high.

How cheap are you talking? I'd do 100 for 10,000 as i need "it" badly. Sorry, newbie here; apparently they are some words i cant use yet. Hope i don't get banned. Hehe.

I am a level two writer on fiverr. I think my rates are pretty good I need extra cash over the next 6 months at least. I only do non-fiction though. Pretty new here; cant PM yet. Anyone else looking if cyrax has already found someone ... just holler

cyrax said:

The OP presented this whole system as being fairly time consuming, which I can understand. However, if you outsource writers, wouldn't that greatly reduce the effort associated with this system?

I am currently looking for writers on "Elance" and I am finding their rates to be incredibly, breath-takingly, high.

I am not sure where to go from here, I can write fairly well but I do find creative-writing to be extremely tolling. It wears you down. And usually requires multiple revisions.

I was wondering if anyone ever figured out a solution for hiring cheap writers?

I have only read up to page 11 in this thread but do wish to thank the OP for his work. He's ahead of his time and a true visionary for this system.

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Under 100 per 10k words it will be just a crapy work. I've never find a good freelancer under 100$.

You can find some freelance from india for half the money, but it's not the same level and a lot of time the freelancer has changed during the work.

And last advice, on odesk don't hire crontractor agency, it's a waste of money and time.


After 3 weeks on kindle, yeah a good quality content is important, but keywords and the desctiption too.

Erotica's very interesting to me - So it's not romance - but just a few levels up "Erotica".

And - so a nonfiction book would get people interested in from the cover art to the material to the desire to fix a problem.

I'm guessing with Erotica, it's all about the cover, really?

How do you guys really find your topics? Browsing best sellers lists?

rolle said:

How cheap are you talking? I'd do 100 for 10,000 as i need "it" badly. Sorry, newbie here; apparently they are some words i cant use yet. Hope i don't get banned. Hehe.

I am a level two writer on fiverr. I think my rates are pretty good I need extra cash over the next 6 months at least. I only do non-fiction though. Pretty new here; cant PM yet. Anyone else looking if cyrax has already found someone ... just holler

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Ya well after talking with Pinger, I think the rate he's at is around 1,000 words = $10.00. I'll PM you when I get 15 posts....

NemoTheOne said:

Erotica's very interesting to me - So it's not romance - but just a few levels up "Erotica".

And - so a nonfiction book would get people interested in from the cover art to the material to the desire to fix a problem.

I'm guessing with Erotica, it's all about the cover, really?

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Well it's all about having a pen name that's a brand. You build on each book to get a following. Covers are what they are, covers. You need one, it shouldn't look bad, but don't stress on it when the real magic here is IMO, having as many good books out there as possible.

Speaking of erotica, is there a limit to how vulgar it can be for kindle? Can I use pornographic terms? Where's the line, if here is one? Thanks I'm really wondering in this one.

Wow Pinger, I appreciate the time that you put in providing detailed answers to people's questions.

Pinger030 said:

In our world it is fucking easy to give up and fail. It is easy to put your hand in your pants, to sit on the sofa and smoke, drink and watch stupid series the whole day. It is easy to find excuses for everything because there are no consequences. Nobody wants that you succeed. And nobody (NOT your teachers, NOT the TV and so on) will tell you how to be successful. That is the reason why NLP or personality development is absolutely necessary to have real success. It is more than "Believe in your dreams". Only with a solid foundation of the knowledge on how to have a strong personality, you can be successful.

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This right here is solid gold. Quick question, what do you mean by NLP development? I know it stands for neuro-linguistic programming but how can you incorporate that into building a solid foundation?

ForgottenProdigy said:

Wow Pinger, I appreciate the time that you put in providing detailed answers to people's questions.

This right here is solid gold. Quick question, what do you mean by NLP development? I know it stands for neuro-linguistic programming but how can you incorporate that into building a solid foundation?

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Neural linguistic programming

Hi everyone,

When I first started (a whole two months ago!) most prices of the independent publishers was a fixed $2.99 or under. I've recently spotted more and more authors testing out $3.99 and $4.99 pricepoints with the same books.

Has anyone else tested this and found this to be a profitable move? Obviously you could afford for sales to drop if you were charging more per book.

This is something I'll be testing in future, when I have more books and sales data to compare the results against.

Good luck everyone

Talyn said:

Under 100 per 10k words it will be just a crapy work. I've never find a good freelancer under 100$.

You can find some freelance from india for half the money, but it's not the same level and a lot of time the freelancer has changed during the work.

And last advice, on odesk don't hire crontractor agency, it's a waste of money and time.


After 3 weeks on kindle, yeah a good quality content is important, but keywords and the desctiption too.

Click to expand...

I was actually able to source a freelancer, using Odesk, that does 10000 words for $60. He doesn't edit or format, but heck that's the easy part.

dennis_797 said:

Hi everyone,

When I first started (a whole two months ago!) most prices of the independent publishers was a fixed $2.99 or under. I've recently spotted more and more authors testing out $3.99 and $4.99 pricepoints with the same books.

Has anyone else tested this and found this to be a profitable move? Obviously you could afford for sales to drop if you were charging more per book.

This is something I'll be testing in future, when I have more books and sales data to compare the results against.

Good luck everyone

Click to expand...

I've read that higher pricing adds value to your book and makes readers more interested. However, ensure that when you're pricing the book it is worth the price. Nobody will be happy paying $4.99 for a 10 page book. The reviews will kill you.

How has your progress been for the past 2 months? I am working on a few books right now that I want to get up in time for Christmas.

marine584 said:

ForgottenProdigy said:

Wow Pinger, I appreciate the time that you put in providing detailed answers to people's questions.

This right here is solid gold. Quick question, what do you mean by NLP development? I know it stands for neuro-linguistic programming but how can you incorporate that into building a solid foundation?

Click to expand...

Neural linguistic programming

Click to expand...

I meant how you would go about developing it.

reenaribeena said:

I've read that higher pricing adds value to your book and makes readers more interested. However, ensure that when you're pricing the book it is worth the price. Nobody will be happy paying $4.99 for a 10 page book. The reviews will kill you.

How has your progress been for the past 2 months? I am working on a few books right now that I want to get up in time for Christmas.

Click to expand...

I think my book is worth the $3.99-$4.99 price, but it will undoubtedly reduce sales, it's just about whether it is more profitable to change the prices and sell less but make more per sale... Worth testing at some point anyway.

It's been going good, but things take longer than expected every step of the way. My writers take a while and some of them go AWOL, and then editing and formatting takes longer than I expected, as does working with a cover designer to find the perfect design. I'm a perfectionist, so the delays are generally at my end, but it does mean that when the book is ready it is to a very high standard. Even when you outsource the vast majority of tasks, the process is still quite stressful and time consuming. In a good way, though!

dennis_797 said:

I think my book is worth the $3.99-$4.99 price, but it will undoubtedly reduce sales, it's just about whether it is more profitable to change the prices and sell less but make more per sale... Worth testing at some point anyway.

It's been going good, but things take longer than expected every step of the way. My writers take a while and some of them go AWOL, and then editing and formatting takes longer than I expected, as does working with a cover designer to find the perfect design. I'm a perfectionist, so the delays are generally at my end, but it does mean that when the book is ready it is to a very high standard. Even when you outsource the vast majority of tasks, the process is still quite stressful and time consuming. In a good way, though!

Click to expand...

Yes, a lot of time goes into selecting a writer then even more time spent getting them to perfect a plot. I spent two days and about 15 revisions on the cover for my current book.

Currently finishing up my first book. I'll try to let you guys know my progress.

Anyone care to share the cover or info on one of their failing books? My first book seems to be doing decent sales-wise, and I did not run a free promo when I put it out. I'm curious why some are getting 0 sales.

Perhaps some advice can be given if we can see figure out what you're doing wrong?