My Self-Publishing Journey: Kindle Select Update

I mentioned in an earlier post that Amazon has been changing its algorithms for Kindle Select so that books using the free promotion days no longer get  the significant bump in sales they once did. Since then I’ve read more about this, and realized that none of my books were  in the program during the golden or even the silver age of  Kindle Select. In the early days (less than six months ago) books could expect hundreds or perhaps thousands of sales after a free stint. That had changed by the time I signed up. Which is not to say it can’t still happen. It can, as Edward W. Robertson (no relation) experienced with the aftermath of the free promo of his book BREAKERS. But as Ed recently posted, Amazon’s changes to its algorithms has changed the game for many self-publishers.

After an amazing amount of close observation, number crunching, and analysis, Ed determined that Amazon has been testing not one, not two, but three different algorithms, each with different consequences for self-published authors. It’s unlikely that Amazon will go back to the old way of weighting free downloads equally with a sale. In fact, as Ed mentions at the tail-end of a recent podcast interview, there’s evidence that more expensive books are weighted more heavily in Amazon’s popularity lists than cheap books are. (Time to raise the price on those 99 centers!) This makes some sense. A book that costs $4.99 or $7.99 requires more of a “buy in” on the part of a customer than a free book or a 99 cent book does. The buyer must want it more to spend more, so Amazon gives that purchase more popularity “points.”

These changes are also the topic in Russel Blake’s post. His take on the future of self-publishing is more negative than Ed’s, but his basic premise is sound: Amazon is in business to make a profit, not to support indie authors.  Amazon will make changes to its algorithms with that goal–to maximize profits– in mind. Some of Jeff Bezo’s business decisions will benefit self-publishers, some will hurt us, and some will have a mixed effect. Working with Amazon is like sleeping with an elephant, after all. They may not mean you harm, but you feel it every time they twitch.

Personally, I think Amazon will choose a middle ground between equating a free download with a sale and not recognizing it at all. I think they’ll continue to use an algorithm that counts free downloads as 10% of a sale. If they don’t do at least that much, they’ll be missing a chance to increase sales and profits from indie authors (minimal though they might be to Amazon’s balance sheet), and authors will stop making their books exclusive to Amazon through Kindle Select.  In that case Amazon might as well discontinue the program altogether–which I doubt they want to do.

It has been ten days since LIGHTBRINGER  went back to paid status after its most recent free promo. So far the post-promo sales for LIGHTBRINGER are comparable to what I experienced after my other two free promotions. The book’s sales numbers aren’t as amazing as some other authors experienced in the first months of the year, but they are an improvement over what my books were selling before the the promotion. While I would have loved to have experienced those phenomenal rebound sales, I think the smaller bump in sales may be more sustainable (also due to the change in Amazon’s algorithm). And since I’m in this for the long haul, that’s probably more important.

What’s the take-away from all this?

1. Amazon will continue to experiment with their algorithms.
2. It’s harder to make a killing using free promotions through Kindle Select than it used to be.
3. There are still benefits to using Kindle Select.
4. Focus on what you can control: writing a good book, with good editing, good formatting, a good cover, and a good product description. Rinse and repeat.

Does EVERY Character Need an Arc?

You already know I’m a geek from my posts about Star Trek, so it should come as no surprise that I am a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. I cut my reading teeth on science-fiction and fantasy. I discovered The Hobbit in fifth grade, and tried to give a book report on the entire trilogy to my sixth grade class. When I got older, “Have you read the Lord of the Rings?” was a qualifying question for my dates. (Brian said, “Yes. Seven times.” So I married him.)

I was very happy with how Peter Jackson adapted the books to the screen. It’s a monumental task to pick and choose what to use to convey the feel of a book on film. I didn’t mind that he cut out Tom Bombadil. I understood when he spent way too much time on the battle at Helms Deep. I put up with the ridiculously large wargs and oliphants. But when he messed with Faramir, he crossed the line.

I understand he had someone on his writing staff who said that all important characters need to show growth and change. The idea that even secondary characters need their own arcs is not new. It’s even a good one–sometimes. But you need to understand how the character fits into the whole, and what role he plays. Before you go about changing the third best selling novel ever written, that a professor of English Language and Literature took a dozen to craft, you had better know what you are about. In this case, Jackson’s lackey did not.

In the book, Faramir’s strength of character in resisting temptation is intended to be a counterpoint to his brother, Boromir’s, weakness. Less favored by their father, Faramir nevertheless showed he had the quiet determination to make the hard choices, and to do what needs to be done without needing the approval of others.  Jackson’s alterations in the movie undercut that, and turned Faramir into just another man weakened by the desire for power.

In my opinion, the movie would have been better served by cutting the battle at Osgiliath, and developing the romance between Faramir and Eowyn a little more, showing how Faramir’s love healed her of the darkness Grima Wormtongue had planted in her heart. (It was in the book, and I am a romance writer. )

That’s why I think a character doesn’t always have to change to be an effective force in a story.  What do you think?

My Self-Publishing Journey: Kindle Select Revisited and a FREE Book

I just read posts by Phoenix Sullivan and Edward Robertson (no relation) that contain important information for anyone planning to use Kindle Select’s free promotion days as a springboard to success for their indie published book. Basically, in a nutshell, Amazon has changed its algorithm again (possibly in anticipation of a change in the agency pricing model they’ve been working with for the last several years) so the free downloads of Kindle Select books are no longer weighted as favorably as they used to be in the sales reports. That means the books downloaded for free won’t help your book move up the best seller and popularity lists as much as they did in the past.  (They still help, just not as much as a paid sale.) It also means that your book’s rank will remain more stable. When every Tom, Dick, and Mary put their books up for free, the rush of free downloads won’t overwhelm your book’s sales rank.

Does that mean you should abandon Kindle Select as a strategy for getting your book noticed?

Both Phoenix and Ed say KS still has its uses. It’s just not as much of a magic bullet as it used to be.

Going free for a few days will still get your book into the hands of readers who might not otherwise have taken a chance on your book. Not all of those downloads will get read right away, and not all of those will translate into future sales. But some will. In direct mail advertising, this is called the conversion rate. The ratio of sales to advertising “units.” That’s what your free books are:  advertising units.

What will I do? I’ve scheduled a free promotion of  LIGHTBRINGER starting today. I scheduled this before I read these posts, and I don’t see any reason to change my mind.  Sales of LIGHTBRINGER have dropped off to pre-free levels, so I figure I might as well go for it. Even if the “3 day bump” in sales (an increase in sales that used to come come about 40 hours after the free promo ended) is much smaller than it was the first time I did it, it still will help get my book into more readers’ hands. As Ed mentions, word of mouth is still the best advertising a writer can hope for.

What I think this means is that indie authors will have to focus on the basics again: writing a good book, good formatting, good cover, good reviews.  And a willingness to experiment.

And The Winner Is . . .

Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing for the free ticket to the Arizona Dreamin’ Romance Reader Event! The lucky winner is Tara Simone. Congratulations, Tara!

Arizona Dreamin’ Is Almost Here!

Next month on June 2nd, I’ll be speaking at Phoenix’s only romance reader event, Arizona Dreamin’ This popular event gives readers a chance to chat with their favorite authors in scheduled groups and over dinner. And if you’ve ever thought of writing your own romance novel, two editors, Gail Delaney of Desert Breeze Publishing, and Lea Ann Finley, Senior Editor of Decadent Publishing will give a presentation about e-publishing, and will be taking pitches. Also attending will be Jimmy Thomas, a #1 cover model, and host of the Man of Our Dreams pageant during dinner.

On Saturday I’ll draw from those who leave comments to this post for a free ticket to Arizona Dreamin’. Tell us about how you enjoyed going to the event last year, what the man of your dreams would be like, or even what else you’d like me to talk about on this blog.  You can even just say, “Hi!” Just leave a comment and I’ll put your name in the hat.

 

Is Spock the Ultimate Alpha?

A lot of you responded to my last post saying that Spock was the man for you. Tall, dark, and brainy, he played second fiddle to Kirk, but does that mean that he wasn’t an alpha male?

What is an alpha? According to AlphaMen, the characteristics of an alpha are leadership, confidence, inner-directed, humor, consideration of others, protective . They left out integrity, but I’d include that on the list as well.

Spock hits on most of these. He knows who he is (confidence), he does what he thinks is necessary (inner-directed),  he does what must be done to protect the ship (“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one,”) and a case could be made that he even has a sense of humor (his ongoing debates with McCoy).

But he’s not a true leader. While Spock’s integrity and ability earned the respect of the crew, he doesn’t have the charisma necessary to inspire people to follow him–nor does he particularly want to. And that more than anything else is why Spock is a beta.

How does a beta differ from an alpha? He’s not a wimp, but he’s no pushover, either. He doesn’t need to be in charge, but he can be when he has to. He’s perfectly happy doing what he’s good at, but he’s able to step up and take command when necessary–and to relinquish that control when he’s no longer needed.

If alphas are the most popular romance hero trope, why is Spock so appealing? I think it’s because he’s the ultimate challenge. He doesn’t give his attention to every woman that comes along (unlike a certain alpha we could name). Only a rare and very special woman can attain his regard, and many of us, who are drawn to the brainy type, like that. We don’t want to be one of many. We want to be the One. (That’s one of the reasons I married my brainy beta. It didn’t hurt that he was pretty darn cute, too. )

So why does Spock do it for you? Or not?

Which Classic Trek Character Are You?

I’m old enough to have grown up when reruns of the original Star Trek were one of the few sources of science-fiction on TV. (Lost In Space doesn’t count. It just doesn’t.) SF wasn’t mainstream back then. Trekkies were geeks and nerds long before there was such a thing as geek chic. Did that make us cutting edge? Well, uh, no. At the time it just made us different.

Or maybe it was because we were already different that we loved the show. Instead of playing cowboys and Indians, I imagined Away Team adventures. I never put myself exactly into the shoes of any of the original characters, though. I was a Russian/Vulcan hybrid. Emotional and analytical. “It is logical that humans are emotional, Spock. It is their nature,” I’d tell him. Like he didn’t already know.

I knew at nine what I was. I wasn’t impulsive and egotistical. I wasn’t decorative and supportive. Grumpy, stubborn, sneaky, or technical. (Hmm. The seven dwarfs as an away team . . .)

And yet, I’m all those things. The crew of the Enterprise (in the original show) represented the individual traits of a whole personality. The show wouldn’t have worked as well without any one of them. They even addressed that in the awful episode where Kirk’s personality was split in half. Still, some traits dominate.

But at nine, none of that was on my sensor array. At nine, I was just a Vulcan, with enough Russian in me to justify my illogical emotional outbursts.

Which character were you?