Indie Author Archives

Amazon Marketing Services

Within just a month, one of my books rose from an overall Amazon books rank of 1.8 million all the way down (or up depending on how you interpret it) to 34,000 on May 5, showing at #3 and #5 in two categories, and at #137 in a third category where I previously ranked at over #2,600. What made this difference was running sponsored ads through Amazon Marketing Services.

Initially, I wasn’t using this marketing service because I didn’t know how to go about it, and was afraid of losing money.

Through a bit of training however, I set up my first campaign at the start of April, and was able to quickly move up the ranks and generated over a dozen book sales.

Email Marketing

Another area I was afraid to touch for years is email marketing. I thought it may be complicated and that I just couldn’t understand it well enough to do it. Now, after doing some training in recent weeks, I am pleased to now have a sign up form and my first email list. Finally, I have now started learning all the fancy things I never thought I would be able to do.

Ongoing Learning

Some of the actions I need to take as an author to grow my career, feels very hard, but with ongoing learning I will know how to do things in the right way.

Many of us spent years in university studying for degrees before we could pursue a suitable job and career. It is the same thing when pursuing a career as an author. The main difference is that author training does not have to be anywhere as expensive as a university education. There are affordable courses on Udemy. There are also courses on Lynda.com and through Author Marketing Club, all very affordable. Moreover, ongoing learning helps clarify the things that are difficult and unclear.

So, I would encourage any writer looking to build their author platform, to invest in valuable training. It will make the difference to your long term success.

Best regards

Karlene

Outsourcing for independent publishers or Indie Authors can be a good thing, because you can’t always do everything on your own. You also want to save time and costs.

Get Clear on Your Goals

You need to get clear on what you want to achieve, when you are looking to outsource aspects of your work, such as the editing, design and formatting. If, for example, you are aiming for a bestseller book, your goals should align accordingly. So, if you are on a tight budget, it doesn’t tie in with your goals if you choose to outsource the book editing to someone who may not give you high quality, even if he/she charges significantly less. Although you want to save on costs, remember your goal is to have a bestselling book, so don’t sacrifice on quality.

Five Star Reviews

Going further on the point of quality, beware of who you choose to do business with. There are freelance services available, where various skilled people are competing with each other to offer the same services. 5 stars Each person is keen on getting positive reviews in order to keep ahead of the competition. Naturally, you want a bestselling book, so you choose the person with 300 five star reviews, over the person with two five star reviews, and over the person with 300 four star reviews. But everyone wants five star reviews.

It’s All About the Money

Now this is where things get tricky, because five star reviews equals higher demand and more money for that five star rated individuall. Some persons can keep up with this higher demand and supply their customers with continued quality service and low costs. But what happens when they can’t or don’t.

A sample scenario is where you solicit a five star rated individual, who then delivers your work a day or two late, and communicated poorly throughout the process. You like the end product, but you take away points for the poor communication and late delivery. You give him a rating of 4.8 and you provide a nice written feedback. He writes you with surprise, expressing concern that you didn’t like his work and that he receives mostly five star reviews. From his point of view you have essentially put his income at risk.

Keep your goals in mind and do not compromise. If you are on a timeline to meet your goal, then he has now set you back by a day or two. Maybe you could forgive the timing, but due to the limited communication, you didn’t know what was happening. Independent publishers are usually keen on having control over the process, so good communication is important. Communication is also vital because if there are issues or questions, these can get addressed early. If you are dealing with tardiness in addition to poor communication, then you will be set back with your goals even further.

You do have good help available at affordable costs, but you want to be clear on your goals, and beware of what factors you are up against. Ensure that the service you receive matches with what you want.

Myzon

Training: A Must When Building Your Author Platform