Kindle anyone?
 

For the longest time, I have totally ignored the "Kindle Revolution" or whatever you might call it. I have seen at the WF that some IM'ers swear by it, by saying having their own Kindle book published makes them an "authority". Bah, humbug, as Don might call it but, is there some truth to it?

In what way, besides trying to sell a gazillion copies of your own Kindle book, what would you do?

Eva

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Anyone???

Guess I have not been active enough as in posting to deserve a reply? Or, the subject is not something you are an expert in? Whatever it is, as I too, have ignored Kindle for the longest time, any input would be appreciated,

Eva

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

First, I'm not a Kindle author but I have been following the Kindle phenomenon. While I would agree that publishing a book can give the author credibility in his/her field I also subscribe to the garbage in, garbage out school of thought. In my opinion the ease and low (or no) cost in putting a book on the Kindle market could lead to a lot of “garbage” in the Kindle book arena.

Having said that, one of the most comprehensive sources of Kindle publishing info is Bill Myers product developer's forum at http://www.bmyers.com. It's a membership site. $10.00 a month and well worth it. I've been a member ever since Gordon J Alexander mentioned it here several years ago and I've never regretted joining.

Bill's focus for years has been producing information products with a concentration on how-to DVDs. But this year he's published Kindle books of his own (both fiction and nonfiction). Along the way he's posted many tips outlining his Kindle experiences, what succeeded and what didn't.

The whole Kindle topic has generated much interest among Bill's members. So he recently added a separate Kindle department to his site. There you'll find all sorts of info on writing for the Kindle, page formatting techniques, free software for writing Kindle books, the types of topics that sell well, pricing strategies and how to promote your book. There is also a continuing dialog among members who are publishing their own books for the Kindle.

I hope this helps.

Roger

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Excellent, I must say, especially since you used the word "phenomenon", lol and indeed it is. And, the fact that you can basically upload just about anything and proclaim yourself an author, will eventually become more appearant to the general public as just what that is, garbage. Still, I consider it a "phenomenon" that the general public know just about nothing about.

Having said that, as in knowing "nothing", how would you go about monetizing your knowledge of the Kindle Revolution?

Eva

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Remember that my knowledge of the Kindle Revolution is only that of an observer/reader. So at this point I'd have to plagerize to monitize. LOL.

Most people think they have to write a book for the Kindle when in fact there are many Kindle “books” which are nothing but lists along the lines of “101 Ways to …...,” “50 Hot Texts To Send Your Lover” (somebody actually has developed a Kindle series along this very theme), “The 12 Secrets to Success in.......,” Must Things to See and Do in....., etc, etc.

Also, I see more and more authors using their Kindle books as a marketing tool by including a page of clickable links to their websites or to other books they've written for the Kindle.

As a point of reference, I'm 70 years old. I grew up loving the feel of turning the pages of books and never thought I'd like reading books any other way. I still don't own a Kindle although I do have the free Kindle app on my smartphone and I must admit I really like it. Very handy to have while waiting at the doctor's office or any time you have time to kill.

Roger

How I Use The Kindle to Create New INFO Products
 

Happy New Year Eve,

I'm sure Amazon had no intention of having their Kindle Book selling
systems used in so many Weird ways.

But here's One More Kindle Munny Making Option.

On a 300 page Kindle book - You get a FREE PEEK at the 1st 30 pages.

So.

After down-loading several 100 (FREE Book PEEKS) from #1 Book Authors
in different Niches - Like -

Horror - Steven King -
Mystery - James Patterson
Children - J. K. Rowling

I added More than 100 Pages of NLP Words, Hypnotic Book titles,
Psychological Cliffhanger Strategies to my latest "UGLY NLP Copywriting Manual & Workbook."

Didn't cost a dime.

And

I didn't have to visit a bookstore either.

Just my 2 cents
but as a research
tool And Info Product Device - The Kindle is Great.

Thanks,
Glenn Osborn

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

I think most people in general knows how to buy a Kindle book or order anything online but as far as publishing their own Kindle book, they have no idea how to. Just the thought of actually write a book, even a short one, probably scares most people off. However, if they did, since publishing now is free and only requires a little bit of effort, they could have a nice little side income be it only $30-$40 a month.

I do not really see how you could make anything more than that but I am also a total newbie to the whole Kindle phenomenon.

Any input would be greatly appreciated,

Eva

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

There are previously unpublished authors earning over a million dollars a year from their Amazon Kindle books.

Amanda Hocking, 28, has become the icon of Kindle success. Until 2010 she worked in a group home in Austin, MN. In her spare time she wrote paranormal romance young-adult fiction and collected rejection letters from publishers.

Needing to raise $300 for a trip to Chicago to see a Muppets exhibition she followed marketing tips gleaned from other self-published authors and put her novels on Kindle on April 15, 2010. Less than a year later she had sold over a million copies of her nine books and earned two million dollars in commissions from Amazon. She did it all by herself, without a book agent, without a publishing house, without a sales force or marketing manager or bookshop anywhere in sight.

Unknown author Tracey Garvis Graves earned a $612,000 commission from Amazon from the 146,170 copies of her Kindle book “On the Island: A Novel” she sold in just one month. The book was priced at $5.99, which means she earned a 70% commission on each sale.

J A Konrath had had some success as a traditionally published author. That is until 2009 when he become aware of the Kindle. From 2009 thru August 2012, he's sold 632,501 self-published ebooks on Kindle, Nook, others earning him $912,138. Six of his novels--all rejected by legacy publishers, have sold 362,783 copies, earning him $600,501.

By putting their books on Kindle, authors can put out books quicker than the Big 6 publishers, earn more money (up to 70% vs. the 17.5% from traditional book sales), reach more readers and have more control over the entire process.

Roger

Broke $1000 in one day, (1 yr. ago post) self-published books, $1001.50, Your Turn!
 

Welcome home Eva...

With 2013, just around the corner...

Make sure you Share all your [New found Riches and Success stories] that I hear are just About to happen All around your part of the Geo local, world-wide internet and much, much more... :)

Time will Tell...

Kindle in my opinion, is [Really] just another Publishing business model, Full of ideas, With never-ending {Opportunities} just Like with Everything else Out there...

No different...

Not much need to Buy every single Kindle related info Product, Ideas coming into the Marketplace...

Just not Necessary unless...

As someone Mentioned... Info products Sell especially well...

Because it's Not much different than...

Comfort food and {Knowledge for the Brain} continues to Go Head to Head with the Never-ending Food related Industry, weight loss and Everything else (in between) that makes us Feel good and Happy! ... ;)

Lots of {Great} [Free] stuff around to Snatch, Study, Learn and Re-Create into your Own Smart ideas...

Quick picks to get those interested, Started with a few little Golden nuggets, TidBits of Excellent information, much more to be Found simply by Digging around...

19,000 Views and Growing...

Definitely worth reading and Scanning through...
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...dle-books.html

Broke $1000 in one day for the first time yesterday from self-published books. $1001.50.
http://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comm...he_first_time/

Kindle (secrets) untold secrets for free... :D
http://books.google.com/books/about/...8C&redir_esc=y
https://www.google.com/search?q=kind...1708 &bih=831
https://www.google.com/search?q=kind...w=1708&bih=831

Have an [Awesome] 2013... Enjoy! ...

And make All kinds of $$$'s, Kindling or whatever...

Phil

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Thanks RgrPett and you to Phil. Gosh, who would think Kindle could bring in that kind of money. Will def follow through on all the links Phil,

Eva

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

That was my exact thought as well.

The volume of traffic at Amazon must be beyond imagination.

Book prices of .99 to 2.99 must seem like giveaways to customers, and result in a large volume of sales. I know I don't blink at buying a 2.99 book. I bought a 6.99 book today just to see what a best seller looks like on the inside. Kid book.

.

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Well, my conclusions so far is, if you want to make a stab at Kindle, or any publishing avenue for that matter, it has to be more than just a stab.

- Write about what you know, if that is a hot niche, the better, if not, you will make less
- Just putting it on Kindle and doing nothing else is not going to get you far
- A supporting website, blog, twitter, facebook and what else marketing technique gives you higher sales and maybe even a following if you write a series of books
- Easiest way to get reviews to boost sales confidence is to actually buy a few reviews from Fiverr, a book is not considered a "product" and therefor does not fall under the FTC's rules of disclosing that you paid for the reviews
- Including a free book at the end of your sold book with a link to an optin page to build your list is an excellent idea
- Title, description, tags, cover and reviews are extremely immportant
- Forget Public Domain and PLR, unless you spend a lot of time re-writing and adding to it.
- Non-fiction is the way to go
- Sending review copies to bloggers helps a lot
- Your earnings will grow slowly over time if you keep promoting and adding to it, less effort into marketing is needed as you grow since you now can promote to your own list

And then, there's more to it than that....

Eva

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

In 2010 Amazon sold more Kindle books than hardcover books. The following year Amazon sold more Kindle books than paperback and hardcover combined.

The single biggest advantage offered by having an e-book on the Amazon Kindle is that your Kindle e-books will never go out of print, so they will keep on selling forever. Printed books, on the other hand, have a very short life on bookstore shelves.

Reddit.com user "throwaway_writer" wrote about his first $1000 day as a Kindle author:
http://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comm...he_first_time/

It didn’t happen overnight: his journey from $0 a day to $1000 a day took 8 months.

At the time the thread was written he had 80 titles for sale for the Kindle mostly as short stories, compilations of the short stories and novellas. That was in late 2011, his title count now is 200+.

His titles are in multiple genres including kids titles, non-fiction, science fiction and erotic romance.

He uses a different pen name for each genre.

He says sales come from 5 things: Cover, Description, Ranking, Title, Reference. Notice that he does not list "content".

He says Kindle book buyers make their buy/don't buy decisions in a manner of seconds. Therefore....

He believes a good cover, great blurb (short, to-the-point, keyword friendly description of your book that convinces the reader to buy, and a solid linking strategy is more important than great content.

He does ZERO promotion. No blog posts, no Facebook account, no Twitter account. Instead he lists each book in 2 categories and adds a clickable link to his first book in each succeeding book.

Now get this: the link is his own affiliate link. Thus he makes a small sales commission on top of the 70% "cut" Amazon pays him as the author. I LOVE the way this guy thinks!

Little known promotion tip for Kindle authors
 

Kindle authors include links to their other books, websites or blogs in their books. Usually they place these links at the back of the book where only buyers will see them ... but only AFTER they've bought the book.

Now, notice that Kindle books usually have the "Click to Look Inside" option. This gives the potential buyer a sneek peek at the beginning of the book.

Authors with marketing smarts put their links at the beginning of the book (between the title page and first chapter). Now everyone who clicks on "Click to Look Inside" ... whether or not they buy that book ... will be able to see other books written by that author.

Roger

$42,000 in 1 Month
 

There is a post on my blog about Canadian author Cheryl Kaye Tardif who shares her story of how she made over $42,000 in one month selling the Kindle books she wrote through the Amazon KDP Select program. In a recent update she says she made $200,000 in just over 9 months.

http://50alone.com/42000-in-1-month-...-kindle-ebooks

There is also a link in the post to download her Kindle book of exactly how she has done it. This is an Amazon promotion and these books are usually only free for 24-48 hrs. I just checked and this one is still free.

I would give you a review of it, but I didn't download it. I don't have the time to spend writing, and don't have the desire either.

Regards,
Steve MacLellan

Thanks for that link Steve
 

I love a free book.

.

Re: Little known promotion tip for Kindle authors
 

Hmm, that's an interesting concept I have not seen anywhere, thanks for the tip! If that is indeed allowed by Amazon, surprised to hear only a few are using it,

Eva

Re: $42,000 in 1 Month
 

Hey Steve: long time no see for me at least... Thanks a lot for the link. I've written a few Christian ebooks and have been looking for a way to self publish. Maybe this will be the start of something new!

Thanks again...
Pappy

You're welcome Pappy!
 

Hi Pappy,

I spend more time lurking these days rather than posting. Hope you managed to get the book while it was free. I've checked the link today and see it's no longer free. But still, $3 isn't much money, and this lady has published a number of books through the Amazon Kindle select program. I expect if anyone knows how to do it... she does.

I hope it offers you some help. And let us know! There is nothing I like to hear any better than stories of regular people who have followed their dream and succeeded.

Interestingly enough, I had an ex girlfriend (from 20 years ago) thank me for the post as well. She has written two novels, and a collection of short stories; and no idea how to proceed. She needed someone to proofread, correct sentence structure and make the text flow a little better. My brother does this kind of work part-time, so I was able to put the two of them together. I hope they become #1 best sellers on Amazon -- she's gone through some tough times, and could really use a little boost.

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Eva,

I'm not sure how long authors have been doing this. I've only recently noticed it.

With Kindle books being so inexpensive, I usually don't click on the "Click here to look inside" button. If the book description sounds interesting I go straight to the "buy" button.

Roger

Re: Kindle Step II
 

So I have been taking notes left and right from all my Kindle research, got about 30 pages so far and still not halfway through all the material I have available on the subject. Once done, that will obviously be a book, lol. However, I feel that no matter how complete that book will be, I should not even attempt to sell it because, duh, I need to publish at least one first myself.

After that, I can start promoting my Kindle book. So, I would have to write another book for my publishing to Kindle experience and that is another project in itself. Anyhow, I am pushing forward, realizing nothing happens overnight. If I can publish 1-2 a month on a continious basis, I might make enough to pay my bills, maybe more but I am not expecting to strike it rich.

What also crossed my mind more than once, is to teach others how to do their own Kindle book but teaching in the old-fashioned way of actually having students presents in the same room! A class in other words. And on the subject of having a class is where I need your help.

Where/what/when/how much and so on. Please do chime in,

Eva

Use Google Hangout...
 

I think if you were to limit the class to those who can attend some sessions at your house, you would be limiting the income you could make.

You could take students from anywhere, and offer the instruction via Goggle Hangout. Then once you were finished, Goggle can publish the video of you and your students to your blog. You make that post password protected and give the password to your students. They can then go in and review the lesson, and questions can be posted in the comments section -- much better than having them email you questions, because you only have to answer the question once and then everyone can see it.

If you haven't heard of Google Hangout, I have a post about that on my blog, that will let you view a demo, and has links to get you started. Best of all -- Goggle Hangout is free, and won't cost you a penny. And... you can repeat the process with different classes :)

You can see the post here:
http://50alone.com/hangout-with-frie...-family-online

Hope this helps -- and I wish you the best of luck!

Regards,
Steve MacLellan

Re: Use Google Hangout...
 

I really appreciate you alerting me to this new way of doing things and I will defenitely check it out. I was not planning to hold classes at my house though, I was planning to rent a club house at a local upscale manufactured home community (not a trailer trash park, lol).

Your suggestion and my clarification of a potential location will draw different animals though so maybe I can do both, thanks again, Eva

Edit: WOW, Hangout, what an amazing tool! Also, when I looked at your site, seems like 50+ is your market, guess I fit right in (I'm 56, lol). The possibilities with that tool are endless! Adding the 50+ angle to it gives me a whole bunch of ideas, especially since I live in the middle of the National Forest myself. Off to further research....

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Our resident BS'er Gordon has joined the Kindle revolution with his first kindle book. I mention this because I designed and produced his cover, and am willing to make covers for others. Email or PM me for particulars.

.

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Nice looking design. I borrowed it and made this for you and Gordon. Feel free to download it and use it however you wish.

Regards,
Steve

Re: Kindle overkill
 

Just an update, still going for it and overwhelmed by it. Got notes left and right and it is just too much. Since I have not published a Kindle book myself, maybe that is the problem so I am now contemplating that, nothing more,

Eva

What is over whelming
 

Hi Eva:

What is over whelming you?....the writing of the book or Kindle?

Maybe we can help.

Cornell

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Amazon is an outstanding trustworthy website where daily billions of visitors arrived and getting amazing affordable deals for every kind of products. Amazon is doing great business for that and now, they launched them official Amazon Kindle tablet. So, it's very exciting for me to see this and now rumours are spreading that they are launching Kindle fire 2.

Book is free again
 

Hi Folks,

Just an update, this book is listed for free again for the next 24-48 hours.

Regards,
Steve

Thanks, Steve!
 

Thanks Steve!

I "bought" it and am looking forward to reading it...

Here's a link to the author's page on Amazon. You can see her book, "How I Made Over $42,000 in 1 Month Selling My Kindle eBooks," if you scroll down the page...

http://www.amazon.com/Cheryl-Kaye-Tardif/e/B002C4V542

Best wishes,

Dien

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

Thanks Steve, just downloaded it. Appreciate the update.

Ken

Re: Kindle anyone?
 

No problem!

Hope you and Dien get something out of it. I didn't review the book. I posted it on the blog because I have a number of Twitter followers who are writers. I thought the post/book might help them. I don't have any intention of writing a book myself. Although I've "toyed" with the idea of a book for children. Love kids -- love being silly with them LOL... I'm a grandfather.

Regards,
Steve