Guys: Kindle is the Ticket!
- Thread starter GobBluthJD
- Start date
Talyn
Regular Member
- Oct 22, 2014
- 216
- 74
I have 29 books: 23 in english, 6 in french
But I have a lot of cookbooks (12)
I had 6 sales yesterday, but lot of 99c books, so at this moment I earned 97€ with sales, 49€ with borrows.
I think that I'll make 100€ sales in 30 days.
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I will try the diet niche..it seems that is working well for many people. But one thing I understood after publishing approx 12 books is that you need a steady marketing plan in place. These books will give you some money for first month of publish and after that regular marketing will bring you sells.
Thanks
Thanks
Nice work! Seeing as how many people have had books bomb (myself included), is there anything you can share about category/niche selection and what types of books work for you? Did any books not work out for you?
vypersells
Newbie
- Sep 29, 2014
- 34
- 16
I paid a ghost writer to do my first book about 4 months ago. I paid $40 for 10k words, then I added about 15 recipes myself (copy/paste ingredients, then rewrite the instructions in my own words, it took maybe 3 hours). That book alone has made about $150 in 3 months. Since then I switched to erotica as my main target, and I wrote it myself (with my wife). Those books sell much better, even some I thought were really bad.. like my first 2 or 3 stories... they sell like 3-10 copies a day lol. When I go back and read them I think "wtf was I thinking.. this is awful", yet somehow I have 4 stars...
If I could give any single piece of advice... stop tweaking/re-reading.
You aren't going to publish 1984 or some masterpiece of literature so stop being critical of your work or your ghost writer's work and just publish! Your writing will get better as you go if you are self-writing, and you have 2 options. Rewrite the same thing 100 times and finally publish it and start making money.. Or write new stuff and publish everything you write, no matter how bad it is, at least you will make some money out of it.
If I could give any single piece of advice... stop tweaking/re-reading.
You aren't going to publish 1984 or some masterpiece of literature so stop being critical of your work or your ghost writer's work and just publish! Your writing will get better as you go if you are self-writing, and you have 2 options. Rewrite the same thing 100 times and finally publish it and start making money.. Or write new stuff and publish everything you write, no matter how bad it is, at least you will make some money out of it.
NemoTheOne
Power Member
- May 18, 2009
- 735
- 248
Vyper Sells
What's "awful" about them?
Not errors, but content? Or both?
What's "awful" about them?
Not errors, but content? Or both?
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vypersells
Newbie
- Sep 29, 2014
- 34
- 16
I just felt my writing style was bad, not very good flow, repetitive word usage. Every book got better and better so I feel better about where my writing is now, BUT some of my old books I think suck are selling better than my newer better stuff. The main point is, if you write your own stuff, write, review, publish, forget.
Don't get stuck rewriting, editing, rewording. Just move on to the next book. Even though they "suck" to me, other people liked them. So as an author I've learned I am VERY critical of my own work.
tl:dr go read 50 shades of grey. That shit is awful... yet made millions.. don't write the next Hamlet, write the next 50 shades!
Don't get stuck rewriting, editing, rewording. Just move on to the next book. Even though they "suck" to me, other people liked them. So as an author I've learned I am VERY critical of my own work.
tl:dr go read 50 shades of grey. That shit is awful... yet made millions.. don't write the next Hamlet, write the next 50 shades!
dennis_797
Registered Member
- Jun 25, 2012
- 76
- 11
A quick question for Pinger, or anyone else who has dealt with this -- It might be useful to some other authors here down the line.
How do you guys handle competitors that are clearly manipulating the rules to gain an advantage -- ie, faking reviews.
My main book has been released for about 10 weeks is very high quality in all regards (cover and content) and has been ranked around #15,000 on average and has picked up about 700 sales. In this time I have received 7 reviews, putting it at about 1 review per 100 sales.
My competitor has put out a much inferior product, yet in 2 weeks he has picked up about 12 reviews, despite an average sales rank of #40,000 or so. That probably means 50-100 sales max, yet 12 reviews -- all glowing, of course. I've investigated and it seems the author is part of a review exchange group.
Obviously on Amazon, reviews are like golddust. And annoyingly, yesterday the competitor book ranked higher than mine for the first time, with my sales hitting the lowest they have been for about 6 weeks.
This is not sour grapes from me -- if a competitor put something out that was better than mine, I'd say well done and go away and work harder to create something better. In this instance, it really isn't the case: my book is more comprehensive, better written, better cover, better value. Yet the competitor is receiving reviews at perhaps ten to twenty times the rate. Something doesn't add up.
I've contacted Amazon, but they have been quite coy on the whole incident. They have said they will investigate it, but they won't be able to provide me the results of their findings, and, if found guilty, how they will deal with it. Personally, I think they should be more transparent to protect the honest authors.
I know in the past people like Pinger have said that they wouldn't participate in review exchanges because that is against Amazon's terms and conditions, and you don't want to get your account banned. Fair enough, I agree completely with that, and I do the same myself.
However, if dishonest authors are gaining an unfair advantage against you, and this negatively impacts your own income, what would you do? Are there any steps I can take?
Thanks!
How do you guys handle competitors that are clearly manipulating the rules to gain an advantage -- ie, faking reviews.
My main book has been released for about 10 weeks is very high quality in all regards (cover and content) and has been ranked around #15,000 on average and has picked up about 700 sales. In this time I have received 7 reviews, putting it at about 1 review per 100 sales.
My competitor has put out a much inferior product, yet in 2 weeks he has picked up about 12 reviews, despite an average sales rank of #40,000 or so. That probably means 50-100 sales max, yet 12 reviews -- all glowing, of course. I've investigated and it seems the author is part of a review exchange group.
Obviously on Amazon, reviews are like golddust. And annoyingly, yesterday the competitor book ranked higher than mine for the first time, with my sales hitting the lowest they have been for about 6 weeks.
This is not sour grapes from me -- if a competitor put something out that was better than mine, I'd say well done and go away and work harder to create something better. In this instance, it really isn't the case: my book is more comprehensive, better written, better cover, better value. Yet the competitor is receiving reviews at perhaps ten to twenty times the rate. Something doesn't add up.
I've contacted Amazon, but they have been quite coy on the whole incident. They have said they will investigate it, but they won't be able to provide me the results of their findings, and, if found guilty, how they will deal with it. Personally, I think they should be more transparent to protect the honest authors.
I know in the past people like Pinger have said that they wouldn't participate in review exchanges because that is against Amazon's terms and conditions, and you don't want to get your account banned. Fair enough, I agree completely with that, and I do the same myself.
However, if dishonest authors are gaining an unfair advantage against you, and this negatively impacts your own income, what would you do? Are there any steps I can take?
Thanks!
NemoTheOne
Power Member
- May 18, 2009
- 735
- 248
Despite his reviews, you are selling more than him, thought, right? isn't that what really matters (if I read all of that correctly)
Also, what makes his product inferior to yours?
dennis_797
Registered Member
- Jun 25, 2012
- 76
- 11
Thanks for your response Nemo,
I was selling more, but today I have fallen behind him in the sales rank for the first time, and my sales are noticeably dropping off -- could be a trend, of course, but I wouldn't want to risk someone gaining an unfair advantage. That's why it is a concern for me at the moment.
His product is just poorly written, lots of typos, looks like a non-native English speaker and contains information that is fundamentally wrong. I hired a great writer and edited it myself (I'm a professional writer), and the final product is really strong. His description is littered with errors and typos, and his cover is decent but not as good as mine. It might sound like I'm biased, but the difference between the two is night and day!
I was selling more, but today I have fallen behind him in the sales rank for the first time, and my sales are noticeably dropping off -- could be a trend, of course, but I wouldn't want to risk someone gaining an unfair advantage. That's why it is a concern for me at the moment.
His product is just poorly written, lots of typos, looks like a non-native English speaker and contains information that is fundamentally wrong. I hired a great writer and edited it myself (I'm a professional writer), and the final product is really strong. His description is littered with errors and typos, and his cover is decent but not as good as mine. It might sound like I'm biased, but the difference between the two is night and day!
vypersells
Newbie
- Sep 29, 2014
- 34
- 16
Hey guys, Does Amazon reject your Ebook if its not in excellent quality? I'm writing a book on Makeup and adventure (different books) and I'm a non native English speaker, will that affect my chance of getting accepted?
50 shades of grey got in, I doubt you could write a worse book. There's literally grammar errors and hard to read sentences everywhere.
In case you don't get it, NO, amazon does not check the "quality" of your writing. But don't expect shit to sell anything less than a shit amount.
Talyn
Regular Member
- Oct 22, 2014
- 216
- 74
Hi mate,
I'm a non native English speaker too and for my books I hire a proofreader to correct my work, you can find some on odesk or fiverr.
I'm a non native English speaker too and for my books I hire a proofreader to correct my work, you can find some on odesk or fiverr.
Hey guys, Does Amazon reject your Ebook if its not in excellent quality? I'm writing a book on Makeup and adventure (different books
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Carepolice
Power Member
- Mar 25, 2009
- 575
- 629
I'll echo this, it's actually quite popular. If you do outsource this work, I'd highly suggest spending extra time analyzing the title and description. That first impression is incredibly important, I've had several Zon Sidekick customers reach out to me for this and I can honestly say that many outsourced revisions are far from great.
Choose your provider carefully, it really makes a big difference.