Are AI-generated Books Already Ruining Kindle Unlimited?
By: Ginger | Posted on July 21, 2023
With the rising number of low quality AI-generated books flooding the digital bookshelves, there is already cause for concern about how this affects authors and customers alike. This is especially true for those books that are part of the Kindle Unlimited program. Many authors are suspicious of the sheer number of these titles, often with poor covers and questionable content, that have somehow made it onto the bestseller lists. It is believed that many of these books are being artificially pumped up via click farms that are downloading and “reading” the books, not only pushing out more legitimate books from the top charts, but also taking an unfair share of the KU money pool. So what, if anything, is Amazon doing about it? According to some sources, AI-generated books are flooding Amazon’s best-seller lists and causing concerns for both authors and readers enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. When it comes to… Read More >
How can you refresh a Facebook ad campaign?
By: Ginger | Posted on June 30, 2023
As we’ve said many times in this space, advertising your book is an essential step in self-publishing success, but it is not something you can just set and forget. No matter how well your Facebook ad campaign performs initially, the sad and inevitable reality is that eventually, its performance will begin to decline. Since stubbornly letting a faltering ad continue to run is just a waste of money, you really need to monitor your campaigns for signs that your advertisements are getting stale and then take immediate action. The first step is determining the possible reasons for the decline of your ad’s performance, and then once you have an idea on that, you can figure out the best way to fix it. In today’s blog, Ginger has a number of suggestions on doing both of those things. The good news is that you don’t always have to pull a previously winning… Read More >
What can self-published authors learn from Barnes & Noble?
By: Ginger | Posted on June 16, 2023
Normally our learning series of articles is centered around other authors and what can be learned from them. Today, however, we’re looking at the recent moves made by brick and mortar bookstore Barnes & Noble. After unsuccessfully trying to compete head to head with Amazon, Barnes & Noble has taken a step back to focus on it’s core strengths and the factors that differentiate them from their largest competitor, as opposed to trying to compete on a playing field that is far from level. As Ginger explains below, authors can, and should, do the same thing. By focusing on your strengths, the customer experience and what makes you unique as a writer, you can stand out from the crowd and build up an audience that appreciates you for what it is you do best. This May, the third annual U.S. Book Show was hosted by the NYU School of Professional Studies… Read More >
Amazon Makes Huge Change to KDP Book Categories
By: Ginger | Posted on June 9, 2023
If you’re a self-published author relying on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform, you need to be aware of a recent change that can significantly impact your book’s visibility. The publishing giant has revised its category selection process, limiting authors to just three KDP book categories instead of the previous ten. While this simplifies the process and addresses abuse, it also raises concerns about your book getting lost among the vast sea of titles. As Ginger describes in his analysis below, there are a variety of implications to these changes and potential ways you may be impacted. Authors that don’t take action soon may find their existing books recategorized automatically, and leaving something that crucial to an algorithm or poorly trained rep is unlikely to do your career any favors. By proactively fixing them yourself, you’ll ensure you are placed in the best categories possible for your book, leading to maximum… Read More >
What 3 things can we learn from the Kindle Unlimited price hike?
By: Ginger | Posted on May 19, 2023
This May, Amazon announced the first Kindle Unlimited price increase since it’s inception, taking subscriptions from $9.99 a month to $11.99. What does this change mean, and will self-published authors benefit or be harmed? To answer these questions, Ginger delves into three key factors he believes led to this move. From the plateauing of KU subscriptions to Amazon’s strategic maneuvering against app transaction blockades, he explores what this means for your earnings and the competition within the program. Having already disrupted the entire publishing industry in 2007 with the invention of the Kindle and the self-service Kindle Direct Publishing platform, Amazon took another swing at traditional publishing in 2014 with the launch of Kindle Unlimited. A monthly subscription service, Kindle Unlimited (KU) was essentially “Netflix for ebooks.” Subscribers are able to download unlimited books from the Kindle Unlimited library for one monthly fee, while authors who opt into the program… Read More >
Will 2023 be the Year of the Self-Published Author?
By: Ginger | Posted on May 12, 2023
Self-publishing has come a long way since its inception in 2007, or even when Ginger and I started with it a few years after that. The stigma of being self-published was thick back then, and while it hasn’t disappeared completely, there are signs that self-published authors and their books are finally starting to earn the same visibility and recognition as traditionally published titles. With more and more self-published authors earning a substantial income, it’s clear that the grip of traditional publishers on the industry is slipping. This disruption has opened up a world of opportunities for independent authors, and has led Ginger to question whether 2023 will finally be the year of the self-published author. Whether it is or not, one thing is clear: We’re not slowing down and there is still plenty of room for us to grow. There’s no question that the invention of self-publishing has changed the… Read More >
What’s the difference between Affiliate Links and Attribution Tags?
By: Ginger | Posted on April 21, 2023
Before there were Attribute Tags, many authors used Affiliate Links to try and track their Amazon book sales, but there are a variety of drawbacks in doing so. Affiliate Links weren’t designed for this purpose, and are very limited in terms of where they can even be used. Today, Ginger delves into what Affiliate Links are, what they track, how and when to use them, and most importantly, how they differ from Attribution Tags. Both of these tracking tools have their purpose, but understanding the nuances of each can help you effectively monitor your book sales, optimize your marketing strategies, and keep you out of trouble. With so much discussion recently around Attribution Tags, it’s no wonder we’ve recently been getting questions about how they differ from Affiliate Links. If you’re not already familiar with them, Affiliate Links are a tool that authors used to use (and some still do)… Read More >
The 5 Rules of Good Advertising
By: Ginger | Posted on March 24, 2023
As an author, it can be difficult to navigate the world of advertising, but there are some tried and true principles that can be applied to book promotion. Ginger, a former New York advertising professional who now uses his knowledge to promote his books and help other Hidden Gems authors promote their own, has distilled his decades of experience into a list of the five most important rules for successful advertising. Despite the constantly evolving industry, these core principles remain relevant and effective, and authors should keep them in mind whenever they are trying to promote their work. Before I threw myself into self-publishing full time, I worked in advertising, and what I learned in that industry gave me an excellent foundation to succeed in this one. This is especially true now that Amazon has filled their homepage with so much advertising space, and that advertising successfully on Facebook and… Read More >
How accurate are Attribution Tags in tracking book income?
By: Ginger | Posted on March 17, 2023
Ever since the introduction of Amazon’s Attribution Tags, authors have been able to track the book income resulting from their advertising and promotional campaigns to a level not seen before. This is incredibly useful for determining the value of these campaigns and planning strategies around then. But how accurate are they? In terms of tracking the sales that come directly as a result of a click from one of your attribution links, they’re very accurate, but that doesn’t actually tell the whole story. Even when the only promotion you’re doing is running a campaign with a tracked URL, you may very likely see more sales than are actually being reported. To demonstrate the issue and explain what’s going on, Ginger takes us through an example using an ad campaign he recently ran on one of his own books, complete with all the sales and page read numbers. I’ve been writing… Read More >
Maximize Your Book’s ROI with Attribution Tags
By: Ginger | Posted on February 24, 2023
Advertising can be expensive, so it’s important to be careful with your ads and always test the different elements to make sure that you’re maximizing your book’s ROI. Changing up the ad images and copy are the obvious first steps, but you can even experiment with other things, like what potential readers see when they click through the ad to your product page. And keep in mind that positive changes to your book’s product page won’t just help sell books to customers finding it from your ad, but from anyone that stumbles upon it organically as well. The ability to properly measure the results of your changes has only become realistic recently, though, with the introduction of Attribution Tags. Without them, you’re really just guessing. That’s why today, Ginger is going through how to use these tags to figure out the net result (whether positive or negative) that your changes… Read More >
