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4 Top Tips To Help You Understand KDP Select http://t.co/RZKnZHt3
ReplyThanks for reading, Ben. What I like about the program is it’s just a 3-month commitment. don’t like it? leave. And it’s only for digital. You can still have your paperback copies everywhere you want. good luck!
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ReplyI keep reading about the Amazon KDP program… and am gearing up to dive in. After reading about your experience in this post, I have a much greater understanding about how to leverage this program. Thanks! Just out of curiosity, how long are your ebooks, are they all available in paperback and do you use a specific service to format them for Kindle?
ReplyHi Britt! My two books are both eBook only and are between 140 and 165 pages, at this point they are not available in paperback (though I do have an offer from a publisher to print MANCODE: EXPOSED for a series of humor books they’re doing), and I have used Toni Rakestraw for my formatting and she’s great. My next book comes out in a few weeks and I’m going a different formatting route (perhaps — in discussions with a house) and some cool options are around with regard to formatting now (discussion links, videos, etc) so I’m exploring that.
Kindle requires a Word doc, so that makes it fairly easy for uploading. In fact, I’m uploading a client’s book tonight! The trick is picking the right categories, keywords and tags. Think SEO!
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Reply4 Top Tips To Help You Understand KDP Select http://t.co/1BYc0A6l via @BadRedheadMedia To be (exclusive) or not to be…?
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ReplyI’ve pretty much given on KDP Select. I tried it with three different books and had some success, but it tapered off big time. I’m doing something now that’s similar to KDP Select: I make a book free somewhere else, Amazon eventually matches it, and it gets downloaded for free from Amazon–almost as if the book were in KDP Select. I like that option better.
ReplyI’ve seen that happen a few times, James. I’m sorry you haven’t had good luck with the program. I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to see the top tips article I linked to in here about 12 things you can to insure success. Basically it comes down to spending money to make money, ie ads (Google AdWords, Facebook, Goodreads all work quite well for a short burst of a few days), and doing all the rest I suggest (blogs, guest blogs, blog hops, newsletters! and of course, social media but not being a spamming machine — not that I’m say you do that. I just see so many authors spam other authors and it’s such a waste of time and effort.
Looking at your tags and categories is critical. I took a quick look at one of your books and you might want to reconsider your categories (mystery/thriller/suspense and parenting and family? Your cover looks like romance, interracial romance, etc.) In KDP go to Bookshelf and when you see categories, click. remove the ones you have and replace w/ FICTION >> AFRICAN AMERICAN >> URBAN LIFE (or ROMANCE). This is much more focused than the overall Romance category. Hope that makes sense.
Anyway, best of luck and again, that’s one way to go about it!
ReplyThanks for the feedback! Actually, I used KDP Select for my short stories, not my novels. My novels have been doing great without KDP Select (approaching a major milestone for both books, hopefully in a few months). My first attempt was great with 6,000 downloads, but the subsequent months haven’t been as successful. And I like having wide distribution, so I decided it’s best to have my work in as many channels as possible rather than just Amazon for 90 days.
I wrote blogs on my experience you can read here: http://www.jameswlewis.com/blog/wordpress/2012/03/20/j-willy%E2%80%99s-kdp-select-experiment-%E2%80%93-first-two-day-promotion-report-march/
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Reply4 Top Tips To Help You Understand KDP Select http://t.co/zpbI6M0G #KDPSelect #amwriting #amreading
ReplyI’ve used KDP Select both before April 2012 and after Amazon changed the rules.
My conclusions are:
1. If you have a single book – don’t bother. Put it on Smashwords also while you write your second book.
2. If you have a series or at least 2 other books then yes – join Select. Make your first book in the series free after you have added links to the other books in the series at the end. Watch sales of the rest of the series carefully for a knock on effect and if sales start falling then promote it again. You’ll need to withdraw it from sale at Smashwords for three months though.
3. Once Select loses effect then use James’ method. Withdraw it from Select and make it free at Smashwords then expect Amazon.com to pricematch it eventually. Amazon.co.uk will take rather longer.
4. It’s worthwhile adding new books you write to Select to benefit from borrowing and library use but don’t make them free.
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Reply#MondayBlogs 4 Top Tips To Help You Understand KDP Select http://t.co/bkFoD3rS via @BadRedheadMedia Plz comment, RT
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ReplyExcellent, excellent post! Very useful information, especially for someone who knows little or nothing about this program. I’ve just posted my first romance Blessed and Betrayed on Kindle, but it states that you can’t place it on Kindle Select if you have it digitally on any other platform. Blessed and Betrayed is also available on Smashwords, so I guess that means I can’t place it on Kindle Select?
ReplyYou CAN, IF you remove it from Smashwords. You’re paperback copies can be available anyway or everywhere. This is a digital only program. AND it’s only for a 3-month commitment. So you have to weigh all the options. 🙂
ReplyExcellent Rachel! The one thing I do like about Smashwords is that I can offer coupons to potential readers/reviewers, so I can offer my books for free or at a considerable discount. Does Kindle offer the same type of promotional tools?
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Reply??’s regarding KDP Select? Who doesn’t! @BadRedheadMedia lays out 4 easy tips to understand KDP Select! http://t.co/ieq8A5TO #amwriting
Reply#MondayBlogs 4 Top Tips To Help You Understand KDP Select http://t.co/fjI1fYFF via @BadRedheadMedia Plz comment, RT
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ReplyI too am a KDP Select member, but my book, The Cover-Up is new. I’ve wondered if keeping it KDP Select only, or try some of the other outlets. This article helped with that decision. Thank you.
ReplyYou’re quite welcome! I work with a lot of authors (as clients for my business BadRedheadMedia) and I do feel the program is quite helpful with visibility and exposure. Good luck!
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ReplyNo one seems to be mentioning the fact that the bestselling books that are in Amazon’s select program are not exclusive, like, for example, the Harry Potter books. Those are for sale at Barnes and Nobles Nook store. It seems that there are two sets of rules. Only the indie authors have to give up their rights to sell elsewhere. This way Amazon gets to brag ‘exclusive’ books, while undercutting the other stores with free popular books. And those free bestsellers are getting all the funds in the pot. This whole promotion is about putting everyone else out of business. Has no one else noticed this?
ReplyIt’s definitely a program geared toward indie authors. No question. But, I will disagree that the program is strictly limited to well-known books. There are plenty of KDP Select authors who are famous, who have many books out on other platforms and a few in KDP Select, etc. It’s only a 90-day commitment, so you can always dump it if it doesn’t work for you.
For me, it’s been nothing short of amazing. But that’s my experience only. Others hate it and move on. It’s simply another option for and and all authors.
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Reply[…] The other critical component of the KDP Select program that often goes unmentioned is that we are paid onborrows (not a component of rankings though), usually more per book than my normal 70% profit on each sale. Sure, I have way more sales than borrows, but so what? To me, it’s worth it. Totally. And finally, for the month of December, Amazon doubled the amount in the pool, so if you haven’t signed up, now would be a good time to go for it! – Rachel Thompson @RachelintheOC, 4 Top Tips To Help You Understand KDP Select […]
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