Success Stories with Publishing on Amazon - Page 2

randyflycaster · 01-24-2011, 09:56 AM

BTW, we can now upload samples of our ebooks on Goodreads. I believe that making large samples available to readers is an important marketing technique.

Also, let's not forget, that ebooks/ereaders are still in their infancy; so if we're not selling too many ebooks we can't always be hard on ourselves.

Randy

Loretta · 01-25-2011, 02:18 PM

Greencat,
Thanks for the helpful suggestions, many of which I plan to incorporate into the marketing of my own recently published eBooks.

[Self-Promotion is not allowed in this forum - MODERATOR]

Mayzshon · 01-25-2011, 07:04 PM

Well, I've had my book - [Self-Promotion is not allowed in this forum - MODERATOR] on Amazon for a few days, and according to the sales report have sold 1 copy. I also put it on Smashwords today, and sold a copy there.

On the other hand, I've had my pulp anthology - [Self-Promotion is not allowed in this forum = MODERATOR] Strangely Odd Tales[/URL] up for about a week, and so far nothing.

I'm actually a bit surprised, I figured that second title would sell better, since it's an anthology, and I have a much more famous author, HP Lovecraft, attached to it.

sportourer1 · 01-30-2011, 08:24 AM

I sell a few copies a day on both Amazon and Smashwords but the price of an eBook is so low the revenue raised is largely pointless

jrlewis · 01-30-2011, 05:09 PM

I launched my first book on Amazon DTP, Barnes & Noble Pubit!, and Smashwords a couple months ago. The good news is that it's pretty easy to put it out there.

The hard part is drumming up interest. Promotions and marketing. I've had over a hundred sales and a handful of great reviews from random strangers, but sales are dropping off.

I've been trying to evaluate different paid and unpaid advertising options. None have proven strong for me yet. But I'm focusing on writing and publishing more this year and I will continue trying new marketing techniques and venues.

Some people have had a lot of success with very little effort in promotions. I think that has a lot to do with writing in popular genres. Know your audience!

JulieMack · 01-31-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

"Help with Marketing" was merged with "Marketing: What Works," since that is the older and more established thread.

It is located in this Writers' Forum, and may be clicked on right here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=108506

Don
(Moderator)

Thanks I will look over there as well!!

HistoryWes · 02-04-2011, 01:15 PM

Great suggestions here. What I didn't see brought up is-- It all depends on your definition of success. If you want sales like J.K. Rowling in order for you to feel successful, you're unlikely to get it. For me, successful means that I'm selling some books, and I feel really good if my royalty payment was higher than the last one. My first royalty payment was $10. My second was $14! Woo- Hoo. Third quarter of 2010, I became a hundredaire!

JulieMack · 02-04-2011, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HistoryWes

Great suggestions here. What I didn't see brought up is-- It all depends on your definition of success. If you want sales like J.K. Rowling in order for you to feel successful, you're unlikely to get it. For me, successful means that I'm selling some books, and I feel really good if my royalty payment was higher than the last one. My first royalty payment was $10. My second was $14! Woo- Hoo. Third quarter of 2010, I became a hundredaire!

Sounds like you are a success to me. I guess I define success in little steps, making some sales. Thanks for the response.

greencat · 02-05-2011, 02:21 AM

I'd agree with Julie. Selling a hundred is fantastic. One thing I'll add - once you get a thousand sold, the next thousand is usually quicker and easier because you've worked out what works, your book likely has a few reviews etc.

Just4kix · 02-06-2011, 09:13 AM

I've been publishing on Amazon and have had some moderate success (if you compare it with some of the huge sales figures that others are showing).

It's difficult to say what makes a book successful. But Can You Drink the Water? had some reviews on Amazon.com and I was on the forums there, but I don't think the British humour was understood/appreciated by some American readers. However, when it also appeared on Amazon UK there were no reviews and I wasn't active on the boards, but sales took off. This month I've sold 10 copies in the US, but 433 in the UK. It sells for 99c/72p. When the book got into the top #100 bestseller list the sales seemed to snowball.
There doesn't seem to be a magic bullet that fits all.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 02-06-2011, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrlewis

The hard part is drumming up interest. Promotions and marketing. I've had over a hundred sales and a handful of great reviews from random strangers, but sales are dropping off.

I've been trying to evaluate different paid and unpaid advertising options. None have proven strong for me yet. But I'm focusing on writing and publishing more this year and I will continue trying new marketing techniques and venues.

Sounds a lot like my experience, too. I agree, being noticed among the thousands of other titles, many being promoted by established promotional machines with the big publishers, is tough (you won't see my books scrolling past on the B&N frontpage). And traditional ad venues are being shut off by those who "detest advertising," leaving fewer opportunities to promote your work other than inspired gimmicks with viral potential.

For me, I've had very few sales on Amazon, B&N or Smashwords, almost to the extent that it's this close to a waste of time for me to maintain them. On the other hand, I also have a site of my own, and have made most of my sales there. Then sales drop off after the initial month or two. Afterward, a new book will touch off new sales of itself, and other books by extension.

Cautionary Tales · 08-11-2011, 09:59 AM

I just published a book of five short funny poems on KDP, so far a few sales but nothing major the book is called Cautionary Tales of Unfortunate Animals.
I think one of the main success stories is "John Locke" Google him if you haven't already

And like many people have said before me i think blogging is the most powerful tool when it comes to advertising ebooks.

Dr. Drib · 08-11-2011, 07:06 PM

REMINDER:

This thread (and Forum) is not the appropriate place for Self-Promotion. Any links to books will be summarily deleted. MobileRead has a place for promoting one's book(s), and that Forum is available to those members who decide to follow our Posting Guidelines.

Don
(Moderator)

dadioflex · 08-12-2011, 07:02 AM

William Meikle mentioned in a G+ post that he'd sold about 20,000 books over the past 12 months on Kindle, 8000 sales alone for "The Invasion" at $2.99 - which I think is pretty credible.

Native · 08-12-2011, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

Hi again, Julie:

Well, I didn't create my ebook on Amazon. I created it in Smashwords and they sent it to Amazon.

Sorry to go off topic, but did you perhaps mean KDP instead of Smashwords? If Smashwords and Amazon are finally working together that's great news.

01-25-2011, 02:18 PM	#17
Loretta Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kindle	Greencat, Thanks for the helpful suggestions, many of which I plan to incorporate into the marketing of my own recently published eBooks. [Self-Promotion is not allowed in this forum - MODERATOR] Last edited by dreams; 08-20-2011 at 03:18 AM.

01-25-2011, 07:04 PM	#18
Mayzshon Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 490480 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: North Carolina Device: Kindle	Well, I've had my book - [Self-Promotion is not allowed in this forum - MODERATOR] on Amazon for a few days, and according to the sales report have sold 1 copy. I also put it on Smashwords today, and sold a copy there. On the other hand, I've had my pulp anthology - [Self-Promotion is not allowed in this forum = MODERATOR] Strangely Odd Tales[/URL] up for about a week, and so far nothing. I'm actually a bit surprised, I figured that second title would sell better, since it's an anthology, and I have a much more famous author, HP Lovecraft, attached to it. Last edited by Dr. Drib; 08-11-2011 at 07:01 PM.

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01-24-2011, 09:56 AM	#16
randyflycaster Zealot Posts: 113 Karma: 1000858 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New York City Device: Sony 350	BTW, we can now upload samples of our ebooks on Goodreads. I believe that making large samples available to readers is an important marketing technique. Also, let's not forget, that ebooks/ereaders are still in their infancy; so if we're not selling too many ebooks we can't always be hard on ourselves. Randy

01-30-2011, 08:24 AM	#19
sportourer1 Writer Posts: 117 Karma: 560236 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: London UK Device: none	I sell a few copies a day on both Amazon and Smashwords but the price of an eBook is so low the revenue raised is largely pointless

01-30-2011, 05:09 PM	#20
jrlewis SF/F Author Posts: 160 Karma: 349656 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: USA Device: Adobe Digital Editions	I launched my first book on Amazon DTP, Barnes & Noble Pubit!, and Smashwords a couple months ago. The good news is that it's pretty easy to put it out there. The hard part is drumming up interest. Promotions and marketing. I've had over a hundred sales and a handful of great reviews from random strangers, but sales are dropping off. I've been trying to evaluate different paid and unpaid advertising options. None have proven strong for me yet. But I'm focusing on writing and publishing more this year and I will continue trying new marketing techniques and venues. Some people have had a lot of success with very little effort in promotions. I think that has a lot to do with writing in popular genres. Know your audience!

02-04-2011, 01:15 PM	#22
HistoryWes Teacher/Novelist Posts: 632 Karma: 2274466 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Nevada Device: Nook STR, iPad	Great suggestions here. What I didn't see brought up is-- It all depends on your definition of success. If you want sales like J.K. Rowling in order for you to feel successful, you're unlikely to get it. For me, successful means that I'm selling some books, and I feel really good if my royalty payment was higher than the last one. My first royalty payment was $10. My second was $14! Woo- Hoo. Third quarter of 2010, I became a hundredaire!

02-05-2011, 02:21 AM	#24
greencat Freebie finder Posts: 907 Karma: 2046472 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Sony, Kindle	I'd agree with Julie. Selling a hundred is fantastic. One thing I'll add - once you get a thousand sold, the next thousand is usually quicker and easier because you've worked out what works, your book likely has a few reviews etc.

02-06-2011, 09:13 AM	#25
Just4kix Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 365040 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Durban South Africa Device: none	I've been publishing on Amazon and have had some moderate success (if you compare it with some of the huge sales figures that others are showing). It's difficult to say what makes a book successful. But Can You Drink the Water? had some reviews on Amazon.com and I was on the forums there, but I don't think the British humour was understood/appreciated by some American readers. However, when it also appeared on Amazon UK there were no reviews and I wasn't active on the boards, but sales took off. This month I've sold 10 copies in the US, but 433 in the UK. It sells for 99c/72p. When the book got into the top #100 bestseller list the sales seemed to snowball. There doesn't seem to be a magic bullet that fits all.

08-11-2011, 09:59 AM	#27
Cautionary Tales Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: None	I just published a book of five short funny poems on KDP, so far a few sales but nothing major the book is called Cautionary Tales of Unfortunate Animals. I think one of the main success stories is "John Locke" Google him if you haven't already And like many people have said before me i think blogging is the most powerful tool when it comes to advertising ebooks.

08-11-2011, 07:06 PM	#28
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 44,748 Karma: 55645321 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: Kindle: Oasis 3, Voyage WiFi; Kobo: Libra 2, Aura One	REMINDER: This thread (and Forum) is not the appropriate place for Self-Promotion. Any links to books will be summarily deleted. MobileRead has a place for promoting one's book(s), and that Forum is available to those members who decide to follow our Posting Guidelines. Don (Moderator)

08-12-2011, 07:02 AM	#29
dadioflex Dyslexic Count Posts: 526 Karma: 5041991 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: Palm TX, Advent Vega, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle	William Meikle mentioned in a G+ post that he'd sold about 20,000 books over the past 12 months on Kindle, 8000 sales alone for "The Invasion" at $2.99 - which I think is pretty credible.

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