The Kindle Question and Answer Thread

[GobBluthJD]

Hey all,

I've been getting way too many PM's asking for Kindle advice. I kept answering the same thing over and over, so I thought we should make ONE thread, where you can ask questions related to Kindle, and people with experience can try and answer them!

This way, we ALL have one location where we can find answers to the most common Kindle questions, and we won't have to go hunting around the forum, or answering 100 PM's

I've talked with a few others who are willing to contribute their knowledge to this thread, so let's make this a keeper.

Ask away!

 

[Panther28]

Thanks very much, first question i have is how many word document pages are on average the number that we need for a decent kindle ebook Cheers

 

[GobBluthJD]

Thanks very much, first question i have is how many word document pages are on average the number that we need for a decent kindle ebook Cheers

Well, the number of Word pages doesn't matter. What's important for Kindle is the word count. That varies by niche and category of course, but here's a general idea:

Short stories and non-fiction: tend to mean something around 5,000 to 10,000 words (writing short stories is a good way to test out a market. Less time invested on your part).


Novellas - around 10,000 to 20,000 words (although some people describe that as a novel).


Novels are generally regarded as 20,000 words plus.

 

[T2tkid]

Can I get your Free Ebook guide?

 

[GobBluthJD]

Can I get your Free Ebook guide?

Sorry, it's no longer free (due to a fair number of people trying to hack it!). But I have something bigger in the works; don't worry

And happy to try and answer any Kindle questions you have!

 

[Panther28]

But I have something bigger in the works; don't worry
!

Is it a Saturday night prime time Kindle TV show?

 

[calltyrone]

Sorry, it's no longer free (due to a fair number of people trying to hack it!). But I have something bigger in the works; don't worry

And happy to try and answer any Kindle questions you have!

So now we have to pay?

 

[GobBluthJD]

Is it a Saturday night prime time Kindle TV show?

Haha, hm...that might be a good idea...

 

[meathead1234]

How do you decide pricing? By word-count or something else?

E.g. would you price a 20k word book at a different level to 10k?

 

[GobBluthJD]

So now we have to pay?

God forbid anyone would pay for information!

I gave it away to over 150 people yesterday. Any my site was the victim of three hacking attempts. I think I lost out on that deal :smash:

I'm answering questions here, for free, as a way to give back.

Sorry if that's not good enough for you.

 

[GobBluthJD]

How do you decide pricing? By word-count or something else?

E.g. would you price a 20k word book at a different level to 10k?

Just wrote a blog post on that today, actually! Don't know if I can link here...

But yes, I decide pricing based on word-count, genre, and what my competitors are pricing at. I'd probably price a 10k word book at $2.99, and a 20k at $4.99, depending on the genre.

One tip I see way too often is that people vastly undervalue their work. Not every book should be given out at $0.99! Just because there is a lot of crap on Amazon at that price range, doesn't mean it's a good thing. Customers don't expect much at $0.99, so if you are actually providing quality, by all means, price it at $2.99. They will know you value your work, and that you're providing something concrete.

 

[meathead1234]

Thanks. Don't you need to price below $2.99 to get the 70% royalty from Amazon or am I mistaken?

 

[GobBluthJD]

Thanks. Don't you need to price below $2.99 to get the 70% royalty from Amazon or am I mistaken?

No, you got it backwards. If you price below $2.99, you are limited to 30% royalty. You have to price at $2.99 or higher in order to receive the 70%.

That's why I try to stay away from $0.99 books; you only make $0.30 on each sale. At those prices, you'd need to sell thousands to make any decent cash. I use them as hooks to get people interested in my longer material, but I wouldn't make them the majority of my business model.

 

[Rob the Builder]

This is ripe for a membership style type site= draining to the point of despair....

 

[Rob the Builder]

So now we have to pay?

Strange concept..................personally I hope GobBluthJD stops producing guides and concentrates on making money. The information he shares here is worth a lot of money- give the guy some credit and buy the book.

 

[Twixx]

The following is something I've been thinking about forever;

Let's say I've got a strong imagination, and my drawing skills are awesome. (Jk. hehe) Would it be a good idea to just write and draw a child-ebook of like, let's say 20 pages and try to sell it? I mean, is the children ebook market big on Kindle?

 

[integrity101]

My first book got published at KDP yesterday and I immediately enrolled it for KDP Select promotion with a five day free giveaway. I've checked the reports and so far it's had 23 free units promo downloads. Is this too much on the first day, so I can reduce the number of "free download" days?
Secondly, suppose I get some nasty reviews from freeloaders with bad intentions, will I be able to remove the comments later? I'm not very worried about the reviews but just concerned. Thanks.

 

[GobBluthJD]

The following is something I've been thinking about forever;

Let's say I've got a strong imagination, and my drawing skills are awesome. (Jk. hehe) Would it be a good idea to just write and draw a child-ebook of like, let's say 20 pages and try to sell it? I mean, is the children ebook market big on Kindle?

Children's books are one of the fastest-growing niches on Kindle. Some guy released a WSO about it, and now there is a flood of really poorly done books (go figure). If you can actually draw though, and have a good story, it's a really profitable niche. You can easily sell a 20 page children's book, with good illustrations, for $2.99, none of that $0.99 junk!

 

[GobBluthJD]

My first book got published at KDP yesterday and I immediately enrolled it for KDP Select promotion with a five day free giveaway. I've checked the reports and so far it's had 23 free units promo downloads. Is this too much on the first day, so I can reduce the number of "free download" days?
Secondly, suppose I get some nasty reviews from freeloaders with bad intentions, will I be able to remove the comments later? I'm not very worried about the reviews but just concerned. Thanks.

"Too much" downloads? I'm not sure that concept exists You can never have too many downloads, in my opinion. All press is press. The more people that download your book, the more your book will be shared with their family, friends, social networks, the more exposure you'll get. I wouldn't try to limit that!

 

[shoaibahmad9999]

Thank you for creating a thread for all Kindle marketers.

I would like to ask you a question:

- I don't like writing novels and stories but I am good at writing ebooks on the topic of self-help. I plan to hire a VA who'll write only on this topic and write a lot. Something like, an ebook a day. Does this seems like a good plan?

Thank you for your time.