MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Success Stories with Publishing on Amazon

greencat · 01-23-2011, 11:21 AM

There are quite a few Amazon success stories out there (look up Amanda Hocking, Stephen Leather & J.A. Konrath, for example).

My own books are also selling reasonably well on Amazon. I will say that there is no magic bullet. Like actually writing the book - you have to set goals, plan, research and be very determined.

Also what works for one person, won't work for others. It is also, for most people, a slowish burn process. Selling the first 100 books is slow and difficult but once you have sold more than a 1000 it gets easier (partly because you know better what works, but also your book likely has reviews and is getting known).

Some basics though:

Title, cover, genre and description. You need to get all of these right to establish credibility.

James, I think your title is intriguing but I'm struggling to connect it to the description.

I quite like your cover. Again I'm not sure it the pic really goes with the title. Personally I might go closer in on the house and bring up the saturation a little.

Description. The description on Amazon isn't really selling the book to me. Descriptions aren't really descriptions - they are a promise. And what you should be promising is a few hours of quality entertainment to the right audience so you need to use the right language (suitable to the genre) to draw readers in.

Genre. Not really sure from the description on Amazon what the genre is. It says romantic drama on Smashwords as a tag - what's it comparable to Cold Mountain, Twilight or something else?

James, I couldn't find your Kindle book on Amazon which is perhaps why it isn't selling. I suggest you bypass Smashwords and upload it directly as other authors often have the same problem with it taking forever to appear there via Smashwords.

Your paperback has no tags which'll definitely make it harder for people to find it. Join the tagging thread on this board once you have some.

Create an author page via authorcentral.amazon.com (and also authorcentral.amazon.co.uk).

Run some giveaways. Particularly via Goodreads - and also via other popular blogs. I would be very happy to run one on my own blog if you drop me a PM (I have run giveaways for UK and US bestselling authors). These won't guarantee reviews but will certainly help get your book noticed. Note a giveaway isn't the same as making the book free as the scarity creates demand.

Get some reviews. See RedAdept in particular.

01-23-2011, 11:21 AM	#9
greencat Freebie finder Posts: 907 Karma: 2046472 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Sony, Kindle	There are quite a few Amazon success stories out there (look up Amanda Hocking, Stephen Leather & J.A. Konrath, for example). My own books are also selling reasonably well on Amazon. I will say that there is no magic bullet. Like actually writing the book - you have to set goals, plan, research and be very determined. Also what works for one person, won't work for others. It is also, for most people, a slowish burn process. Selling the first 100 books is slow and difficult but once you have sold more than a 1000 it gets easier (partly because you know better what works, but also your book likely has reviews and is getting known). Some basics though: Title, cover, genre and description. You need to get all of these right to establish credibility. James, I think your title is intriguing but I'm struggling to connect it to the description. I quite like your cover. Again I'm not sure it the pic really goes with the title. Personally I might go closer in on the house and bring up the saturation a little. Description. The description on Amazon isn't really selling the book to me. Descriptions aren't really descriptions - they are a promise. And what you should be promising is a few hours of quality entertainment to the right audience so you need to use the right language (suitable to the genre) to draw readers in. Genre. Not really sure from the description on Amazon what the genre is. It says romantic drama on Smashwords as a tag - what's it comparable to Cold Mountain, Twilight or something else? James, I couldn't find your Kindle book on Amazon which is perhaps why it isn't selling. I suggest you bypass Smashwords and upload it directly as other authors often have the same problem with it taking forever to appear there via Smashwords. Your paperback has no tags which'll definitely make it harder for people to find it. Join the tagging thread on this board once you have some. Create an author page via authorcentral.amazon.com (and also authorcentral.amazon.co.uk). Run some giveaways. Particularly via Goodreads - and also via other popular blogs. I would be very happy to run one on my own blog if you drop me a PM (I have run giveaways for UK and US bestselling authors). These won't guarantee reviews but will certainly help get your book noticed. Note a giveaway isn't the same as making the book free as the scarity creates demand. Get some reviews. See RedAdept in particular. Last edited by greencat; 01-23-2011 at 11:37 AM.