You can no longer buy books through the Kindle app
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on June 10, 2022
Last week, Amazon announced that they were ending the ability to buy books or manage your subscriptions through the Kindle app – meaning readers will have to go to the regular Amazon website. Why did they decide to do this? And what impact will it have for authors and readers alike? You may have seen a bunch of articles this week about Amazon’s decision to end purchasing through their Kindle app. It comes as a result of Google charging 15% for all transactions (of digital products) made through apps available on Google Play, and apparently Amazon weren’t having it any longer! That being said, this move isn’t a surprise to many people. Apple have blocked in-app purchases that bypass their payment portals since 2011 – and go even further, by not allowing links that redirect to a third-party hosted webpage for payment, either. But what impact will this have on… Read More >
Is Amazon’s eBook Returns Process Too Easy to Abuse?
By: Craig | Posted on April 15, 2022
Amazon loves to cater to the customer experience, which is a business model that has made them one of the biggest companies in the world. However, in the case of their unrestricted policy on eBook returns, they have left authors open to abuse by unscrupulous customers looking to read for free. While this policy is not new, a recent increase in social media posts and videos, urging customers to read and return books even after they’ve read the entire thing, has highlighted how easy this policy is to exploit. Is it finally time for the eBook giant to take a cue from the rest of the industry and tighten up their rules? As of writing this, 43,545 people have signed a petition posted by author Reah Foxx on Change.org called Change Amazon Return Policies for Completed E-books: Protect Authors from Theft! Just a few more thousand and this will… Read More >
Amazon delivers another blow to traditional publishing
By: Ginger | Posted on April 1, 2022
In recent weeks, Amazon has done something previously considered unthinkable – offering up the option for authors to advertise their books using Advertising on Amazon even if they’re traditionally published, or the rights to those books are held by somebody else. In doing so, they’ve delivered yet another gut punch to traditional publishing by providing authors that aren’t yet self-published with an opportunity to test whether they can do a better job of promoting their own books, while at the same time getting a view into just how much money they’re leaving on the table. If you’ve visited your Author Central account on Amazon recently – the one where you can post your biographical details, and curate all the books you’ve written or contributed to – you’ll notice a new tab called Reports & Marketing. On that page, you’ll see the option to go directly to the Advertising on… Read More >
Publish like a bestseller (even before you are)
By: Ginger | Posted on March 25, 2022
For those that work regular jobs, there’s a saying that goes, “Do the job you want, not the job you have.” Essentially, that just means that if you want to get promoted or move up in your job, you should start by proving that you can handle what that higher position has in store for you. But does that still apply to self-published authors that don’t work for anyone but themselves? Of course it does, because after all, you may not be trying to prove anything to anyone but yourself but at the end of the day, isn’t that the person you want to impress the most anyway? The truth is, there is always more success to be had, or higher levels to reach for in your career, and sitting back on your laurels is no way to get there. As Ginger describes below, the best way to capitalize on… Read More >
Accounting for Authors
By: D.F. Hart | Posted on March 18, 2022
I’m sure there are very few authors that would claim to enjoy the accounting side of self-publishing. But keeping track of your numbers is essential, because selling copies and getting royalties can make it seem like the money is flowing and the profits are growing, despite the fact that your fixed costs mean you’re actually still in the red. The whole subject seems daunting, but that’s why we turned to someone that has literally wrote a book on the subject. D.F. Hart’s Accounting for Authors is coming out next month, but today she stopped by to give us a quick little primer, laying out all of the key terms and factors that self-published authors need to think about. Ah, numbers. Most authors’ least favorite component of self-publishing. They’re necessary – but they don’t have to be painful. Understanding some basic accounting concepts can go a long way toward strengthening… Read More >
Author Spotlight Interview: Amy Craig
By: Hidden Gems | Posted on March 15, 2022
Today’s interview is with romance author Amy Craig, who writes stories where everyone gets a happy ending. We were honored to chat with Amy about her self-publishing journey, writing style and exciting upcoming projects. HG: How would you describe yourself to somebody who isn’t familiar with your writing yet? AC: Lots of banter, medium-heat sex, and some research to set the scene. I’ve written contemporary romances and romantic suspenses, but the main difference is the presence of the “bad guy” vs. circumstantial impediments. In my stories, everyone gets a happy ending. Sometimes, even the villains get a second chance. HG: What have been the challenges you’ve faced in your publishing career? AC: Someone published my book, so I’m the luckiest girl in the world! Realistically, so many people have amazing stories to tell. I wish I was the type of person who slaved over a novel for decades and fine-tuned… Read More >
Ads work best when you think like a reader
By: Ginger | Posted on March 4, 2022
Great fiction novels are often filled with a roster of unique and believable characters, each with their own backstory that define how they react to the events of the story. As the author of that book, your job is figuring out what those actions and reactions would be, even when they might be very different than how you, personally, would behave in that same situation. One way to do that is by imagining yourself as that character, viewing the world through their eyes and colored by their history instead of your own. As Ginger explains this week, when it comes to improving the sales of a poorly performing book, you can actually rely on some of those same skills. Instead of looking at your ads in terms of what you meant or hoped for them to convey, you should take a walk through the same buying journey that your readers… Read More >
3 Advertising on Amazon Myths Busted for 2022
By: Ginger | Posted on February 25, 2022
Sometimes it’s worth revisiting even the most generally accepted beliefs to make sure that they still hold true. This is especially so with technology, because although we may regularly visit a website or use a service, improvements can be made behind the scenes and pushed out to us without our ever knowing. Advertising on Amazon is one of those things. When it launched, the platform had all sorts of issues and limitations that authors eventually learned to work around, often through online discussions with other users. Those discussions not only helped authors navigate the issues to get the most out of each Amazon ad they created, but raised awareness of the platform deficiencies in such a way that they became a kind of conventional wisdom. But despite Amazon’s continued improvement of their ad platform, fixing many of those early flaws, belief in their continued existence still persist within the… Read More >
How to know when to change your book cover
By: Ginger | Posted on February 11, 2022
Every book and story is different, but if I had to pick a single element that was most commonly at fault for poor sales, I would point to covers without any hesitation. We all know that we shouldn’t choose a book by it’s cover, but most readers do it anyway, and for good reason. Whether browsing top 100 lists, scrolling through search results or just looking at also bought recommendations, few people have time to drill into every option to read blurbs or analyze reviews. Instead, they narrow the list down to just a handful that warrant further investigation, and the easiest and most obvious criteria available to do that is the cover. Images that catch a reader’s eye and spark their interest are the ones they’ll be drawn to first, giving those books a huge advantage over ones with less appealing covers. Of course, there are many reasons why… Read More >
Updated your book? Now test the results.
By: Ginger | Posted on December 10, 2021
As a self-published author, you’re probably very aware that your book isn’t done just because you’ve finished writing. You’re still ultimately responsible for putting together all of that “other stuff” that helps actually sell the thing. I’m talking about blurbs, covers, or any of the other details that make up an enticing product page. But unless you’re also a marketing expert, you may not get all those things right on the first try, and missing the mark on them can lead to poor sales for even a great book. That’s why you should never shy away from making changes if you think you’ve identified an issue, regardless of whether your book is already published or not. But even if those adjustments don’t lead to a dramatic or immediately obvious change in sales doesn’t mean they didn’t make a difference. You’ll only know for sure if you carefully measure and test… Read More >
