Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Hungry, Hungry Indie Author/Publisher - What Sells Kindle Titles?

Since Feb. 1st of this year, I've been monitoring a thread on KDP which I put up as "What Mioves Kindle Bks. off Shelves" and the staggering numbers of views, comments, and pages has surprised me, but perhaps I shouldn't be surprised at I understand 20,000 new Kindle titles by new authors are being put up daily now.  I didn't verify that number but it would not surprise me either. But my thread numbers blow me away.

Recently, another person on the thread asked, "Rob, what do I make of the growth in this thread?"  And he listed the dates showing huge bumps in numbers.

The thread is a monster now, as big as the White Whale as it is now 24,200 plus views, 760 plus comments, 52 pages. But the question was, what do I make of it?  Aside from being totally and completely FLABERGASTED, Astonished, Amazed, left wanting to shout like the King of Siam, "Is a Wonderment!" -- I dunno!  How should I know what is stoking this? Perhaps it is due the fact the thread became a recommended Amazon.com/Kindle 101 class but frankly, I think it was going up and up and spiraling up long before it was given this great recommendation.  Something else is afoot here, I suspect, Mr. Watson.


I certainly can't explain it except to say that apparently people are starved for authentic, tried and true, proven advice on the subject of "iMoves" - a term that came of my error in the Title of the Thread, misspellx of Moves, which means moving books on the iNet (iMoves).


And we ain't charging anything for admission to the "writers conference" and no one has stolen the mic or gone off the deep end. I keep waiting for the shoe to fall and it still hasn't.

My only fear is that I will run out of rabbits to pull outta me hat, but if I do, I can count on hundreds if not thousands of smart other authors experimenting and learning their way; that  others can, will, and without reservation leap into the breach!

One thing I stress in the thread is to not get hung up on efforts that bear no fruit or such little fruit as to be a waste of time, energy, money, or all of the above. Currently, I am not going to waste a lot of time on the newly opened Germany Kindle Store. Why?  Because I tried and failed there, so 'iMove on' since I have sold NADA, ZIP, NINE in Germany Kindle Store, and I do not mean 9 but NINE as in nothing!!! Ugh and urrrrrrgh! I am going to keep my focus and concentration on Kindle US thank you where I am on at least two top ten Kindle lists if not more.

I just reviewed that first post I put up on this now humongous thread, and it is very simple and straightforward steps to take, tips to put to use. It certain touched a chord in ebook and kindle Indie authors and publishers. Here is where you can find the thread  on Kindle Community Forums:  https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/dashboard

Should you wish to look in on the thread, let me know! And please leave a comment here.

Rob Walker
http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/

PS - iMove from #20 to #6 in Kindle Store Historical Fiction - Children of Salem!!!! Yah-Rah!! Witchcraft, the geography of it, the land grab, the prejudice that leads neighbor to hang neighbor. It is Gunsmoke in 1692 with Jere Wakely as Matt Dillon. A commercial retelling of the Salem Witchcraft episode. A lifelong project rejected by every publisher and agent I submitted to, yet soon to be #1.

And perhaps it is time YOUse GUYse give out with a few well-chosen sentences here about your books in our comments section. You have a huge audience here! Never miss an opportunity to talk premise and platform.



5 comments:

Jackie King said...

I have a suggestion for material: do a short and sweet numbered version (a review perhaps) for folks like me who are a bit intimidated by huge threads.

I really enjoy your articles on Acme Author Link.

Kevin Lynn Helmick said...

The thread is great and I don't know about the copyright laws for such a thing, but I'll bet a ebook of the cream of the crop there would do very well.
I've taken advice from there, simple stuff that I should have thought of and been doing already. I'm blogging more, not on mine, cuz as far as know crickets can't read, but I'm reaching out for reviewers and other writers.
I have some interviews coming up in a few months, some reviews too, and I hope they go well.
A radio interview eary this year came out of the blue from a fan of my first book. And I was asked to be a guest blogger on Paul David Brazill's blog this week, don't know where that came from other than we both have written for Pulp Metal Mag, He must have liked it.
Anyway, that was good and saw a small spike in sales. My books? I have two novels out now.

The first I published last year, Clovis Point, thats a modern thriller/coming of age/natural born killers/meets Bonny and Clyde.

The second, Sebastian Cross, that's a literary adventure that examines the concept of "culture bearing" books (an no, that's not my term, I didn't just make it up.)A chicago based literary agent signs a brilliant, globe trotting, adrenaline junkie, novelist that produces a book thaa chain of events sets off world wide, that they may or may not survive, depending on your definition of survival I guess.

You can find them both if you're interested in the link (my name.)
paperback and kindle. Oh-and over at smashwords, and about any book distributor out there.

And Robert-you must never sleep, I can believe what you pack into a day.

Kevin Lynn Helmick said...

Forgot to add the link...so stupid

June Shaw said...

Rob, as always, you are so inspirational and willing to help others. Kudos!

Morgan Mandel said...

Working on the tags angle.

Morgan Mandel