Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie discussion

Dale wrote: "Theodore wrote: "It is truly amazing the ways there exist today to separate indies from their money."

Yeah, buyer beware. I've often wondered about all these awards people plaster on their book co..."

I use award seals on a number of my covers...I think it draws attention to my books and adds credibility. It certainly makes them stand out against others when placed side-by-side with competitors' covers without awards.

I just saw it as another possible avenue to be visible. But not at a price.

I have to admit, I'd rather have a writing award than a cover award. Right now I have nothing. So something would have been a start. Or even the chance of winning something.

If I had a writing award I could call myself an award winning author and it would bolster my confidence. I also don't have any awards for my day job whereas there are people in the business with less experience than me who win year after year because they have bigger businesses.

I put the KindleScout2018 keyword into Missing Remnants when I published it, then found out it isn't eligible because I'm not exclusive to Amazon and never will be. That's just my personal choice. I don't stand a chance with page reads all the time book stuffers exist shoving 1000 extra pages on the end of their 200 page book to earn more of the pot. This morning I realised the keyword was the reason Amazon kept emailing me about not being eligible. I've replaced the keyword with Space Station because I'm not very good with keywords lol.

D.J. wrote: "I just saw it as another possible avenue to be visible. But not at a price.

I have to admit, I'd rather have a writing award than a cover award. Right now I have nothing. So something would have b..."

DJ, the are three places I suggest you look at when it comes to awards; I have used all three for reviews and awards and although you may consider them somewhat expensive (the price of a "union card"?), you may just get that "award-winning" author title for your resume. They are:

Pacific Book Review:

http://www.pacificbookreview.com/

I have known Nicole and Gary for many years. They are professionals through and through. You may want to write Nicole first ([email protected]), mention my name, and ask whatever questions you may have. She is simply wonderful when it comes to corresponding with authors and caring about their needs. (Give her my love. (;>))

I also have used Readers' Favorite for many years.

https://readersfavorite.com/

James, who is their front-office man, is another who responds quickly to all inquiries. You can reach him at:

[email protected]

They just closed their 2018 Award Program (winners to be announced on September 1st), but there's always next year!

And, of course, there are the Pinnacle Awards. Carole and I have won several of these. They are sponsored by the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs (NABE):

http://www.bookmarketingprofits.com/P...

These run throughout the year. And of the three, this probably is the least expensive. If your book doesn't fit one of their categories, you should provide a category that does. Al Galasso, who owns the Association, is very responsive to any and all inquiries.

BTW, I also have used Feathered Quill for book reviews, though I've never entered their competitions.

https://featheredquill.com/

As well, years ago, I used to use Reader Views, though not since Irene passed away:

http://readerviews.com/

On the children's side of the house, one of my books did win a Royal Dragonfly Book Award from Story Monster Ink Magazine.

I hope this helps.

Ted

That's great, thank you Ted. I'll take a look. I've always been someone who knew how well I was doing by the certificates I earnt. Of course if these competitions are based on the number of people who read and then vote for your book, I don't stand much of a chance. I'll have to look to see.

D.J. wrote: "That's great, thank you Ted. I'll take a look. I've always been someone who knew how well I was doing by the certificates I earnt. Of course if these competitions are based on the number of people ..."

No, they are judged awards.

Oh that's OK then. I'm good enough to win anyone's 'What the hell was that?' award. I've bookmarked them for when I feel brave.

Thanks for the list, Ted. I'm not much pursuing awards right now, although I will be entering Ice on the Bay in the 2018 Maryland Writer's Association Novel Competition, which should start in a couple of months. I entered True Death in 2016 but didn't get enough ratings to qualify.

There is no fee for this, but you have to be a Maryland resident and MWA member to enter. Authors who enter have to read and rate a certain number of books by other authors in a category other than their own. (So I can't rate mysteries, for example.) A book must get a minimum number of ratings to qualify, which can be a bit of a problem. They've tried to rectify that with some rules changes, especially a longer reading period. We'll see how it goes this year . . .

Dale wrote: "Thanks for the list, Ted. I'm not much pursuing awards right now, although I will be entering Ice on the Bay in the 2018 Maryland Writer's Association Novel Competition, which should start in a cou..."

Good luck. Trying to get ratings is like stirring up reviews, I'm sure.

Theodore wrote: "D.J. wrote: "I just saw it as another possible avenue to be visible. But not at a price.

I have to admit, I'd rather have a writing award than a cover award. Right now I have nothing. So something..."

Those are some of the best guys, Ted. I also like Foreword Review and Kirkus. Bookworks has something and the Indie Spirit awards. I still use Reader's Views for awards as well. This woman Susan Violenti took over for Irene. Brag is also pretty respected.
I agree with you Ted, that they may not help with sales, but I think of them as a validation that my books stood out from the hoards of others. Also, it may influence people when they look at a group and your book is covered with this recognition.

Carole wrote: "Theodore wrote: "D.J. wrote: "I just saw it as another possible avenue to be visible. But not at a price.

I have to admit, I'd rather have a writing award than a cover award. Right now I have noth..."

Yes, Kirkus is probably among the best, but they are extremely expensive, and they take a long time to receive.

Theodore wrote: "Good luck. Trying to get ratings is like stirring up reviews, I'm sure."

Thanks, and yes, it can be. But I've attended a couple of chapter meetings now, so maybe more people will recognize my name and lend a hand. I hope . . .

Angel asked me to relay that she will be offline for a bit. She wanted everyone to know she is having personal problems and will have to straighten them out before she can return.

I hope she’s ok.

Love and hugs to you, Angel, if you get to take a fleeting glance at what we're getting up to.

Angel, Sending love, hugs, and prayers for comfort and healing. So sorry for what you're going through. Hope things imrove soon.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Angel.

Thinking of you, Angel, and wishing the best for you.

Is it worth running a paid for promo for a book at this time of year? I've never sold enough books to know if there's a good time of year and a bad time of year.

Any ideas?

Thanks Alex. I may drop the price to .99 and run a promo. I’m back to only shifting a copy as and when I’ve spoken to one individual. I’m better than that.

D.J. wrote: "Is it worth running a paid for promo for a book at this time of year? I've never sold enough books to know if there's a good time of year and a bad time of year.

Any ideas?"

this is a great time ; people buy books for vacation

I keep hoping...!

We did a radio show where we talked about Bookstuffing last week. Happy to report that Amazon has removed a good amount of them and are on a roll to clean up the scammers. If they keep this up, KU will once again *hopefully* be profitable again.

It was a great show, too!!

I didn't realize that there has been a big problem with bookstuffing. I imagined it was the odd few - sigh, I must catch up. Very pleased to hear that removing them will make KU profitable again - I didn't realize it was having trouble.

Why do people cheat constantly? Don't answer that! I do know that!

Anna Faversham wrote: "I didn't realize that there has been a big problem with bookstuffing. I imagined it was the odd few - sigh, I must catch up. Very pleased to hear that removing them will make KU profitable again - ..."

I don't do digital, but think that Amazon's rating list cause the problem. Since physiologists teemed up with accountants the approach to sales has been that consumers are stupid and will follow a herd. That's why if you search for a book you are instantly shown its 'Rating' and alternatives. AS far a Kindle is concerned. It seems that giving away free counts as a sale. Maybe Amazon should also address the issue of the meaning of words. Sale = being paid. Or maybe they are going to change their name to Humpty Dumpty.

Okay, I'll show my ignorance. What is bookstuffing?

You publish a 200 page book. But in the back you add 1000 pages of bonus stuff or another book or a collection. You put it in Kindle Unlimited and instruct all your readers to read to the end of the 1200 pages so you get higher page reads than your 200 page book.

Damn! Why didn't I think of that. That means both of my readers would have made me a lot more money. Seriously, I'm glad Amazon is fixing it.

Yes and both of mine too. It honestly wouldn’t have occurred to be to do it. By then I haven’t been exclusive to Amazon for over a year. Even if it was ok, the example I read about was an author actively telling readers to click on every page and let it load, but hey, there’s no need to read it, the author just wants the money from the extra page reads. Smacks of dishonesty to me. I don’t know how rife the problem is. I didn’t even know there was a problem until about two weeks ago. I’m so naive.

And I saw it when you shared it. I was suitably outraged with a ‘raised middle finger and an oh FFS what chance do I stand’ attitude. Then I incorporated it into a medium rant and earnt a couple of quid from it.

D.J. wrote: "And I saw it when you shared it. I was suitably outraged with a ‘raised middle finger and an oh FFS what chance do I stand’ attitude. Then I incorporated it into a medium rant and earnt a couple of..."

I truly love your resourcefulness! :)

D.J. wrote: "Yes and both of mine too. It honestly wouldn’t have occurred to be to do it. By then I haven’t been exclusive to Amazon for over a year. Even if it was ok, the example I read about was an author ac..."

It never would have occurred to me, either. And I was shocked to learn of it, along with many other things as I've been on this path.

Another thing I hope they fix is that if a reader gets to the end (in KU) then pops back to take a look at the cover or the contents, it only shows up as having read one page because Amazon pay up to the last page read.

They may have already fixed that. Anyone know?

Another promotion site is closing. Book Daily. Tomorrow is the last day.

I haven't used that one. I had a feeling that some of the sites were sinking too low to operate. Which are the other ones that have closed, Anita?

Sorry, didn't mean to word it as if there are other sites.

Oh I'm often ambiguous too, Anita; it drives me mad.

I keep thinking that some of the more successful sites will be able to acquire more subscribers as smaller sites give up and that will be good for authors - although I expect they'll then charge us more.

It's no surprise that I've just been rejected by Ereader News Today. Probably because I only have 3 five star reviews. Their rejection is a standard either I didn't meet their criteria or they don't have room. I suspect I just don't have enough clout.

Did you have any more reviews when you submitted the next time?

Sorry to hear that, D.J.

Try some of the smaller sites which need authors. I've just had a book with Book Pebble and my book was the only one sent out for today.

They are based in Amsterdam and I think they have a more UK based readership.

I’m trying a few smaller places but I’m still not selling books. I’ve got another bargain booksy going on 9th this time I’m priced at 99p. I want to see if that makes a difference and I get more than 3 sales.

D.J. No I didn't get many sales from them last time - 3 only as far as I could make out. But they were $5.

I can't tell this time because I am using another site on the same day and it was $10 this time.

I suppose I am suggesting that sometimes I feel I need to start small and then build up when a little bit of money is coming in.

The Fussy Librarian is another site that is not too expensive for 0.99 offers. And I've heard from others that they've had a good response. Not sure about their policy on reviews. I'll have a scout around D.J.

Thanks. I’ll give those a go.

Here's something, D.J., which I've kept from another thread. I can't say I'd recommend any of the sites in particular and I think the info is out of date but you could have a look at them and see if any might suit you.

No reviews? No problem :) Check out these promotional sites for your new releases or books that don't meet the review requirements of other sites. The * indicates a site that does not require reviews on new books as long as the author is established with reviewed books on Amazon (and a high overall star rating). Approval processes still apply to most.

Free to submit:

Choosy Bookworm (free option)
Free99book.com
ebooklister.net
freebooks.com

Pay to submit:

Book Raid
Kindle books and tips
Book Gorilla*
Book Angel UK
Ebook Hounds
The Fussy Librarian* (Make sure you type “the” in the address bar or it will send you to a virus-y page!)
Bargain Booksy*
ENT
Just Kindle Books
Digital Book Today 4
Booksends*
Choosy Bookworm
Sweet free books*
Awesome Gang

Sorry it's so out-of-date. But good luck.

Great thank you. I’ll add them to the list Alex gave me.

I had a cheap Facebook promo in the last week. I’ve sold one copy. Don’t know if that’s as a result of that one.

Help, please on Medium! Has anyone ever had an issue where they published their story for members, but it didn't take somehow? Last night when publishing my new story, I noticed "We Rescue More than Dogs" was not a members only story and looked into it. I know I clicked the box for the story to earn money when I published it. I updated it last night and they basically replied it's my mistake, too late. I had around 200 member claps that I won't be paid for. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you. Hugs to All

They made me take one story off the members only- they said if you mention Medium you can't make money off it.
They say it's good if you have a mix of both- it brings you more followers!!

Carole wrote: "They made me take one story off the members only- they said if you mention Medium you can't make money off it.
They say it's good if you have a mix of both- it brings you more followers!!"

This is not good for me because I lose the money from the claps, and I'm not gaining many followers. Ugh!

Oh no. Sorry that’s happened. I’ve not had that happen to me. I did start by following a lot of people Carole is linked to. I’d start there and go for it. Just follow people and some of them will follow back. I’m still struggling for subject matter. Basically if it occurs to me I write it whether it article worthy or not.